Riot Fest Issues Statement Confirming The Death Of A Fan

Chicago’s Riot Festival has issued a statement that confirms the death of one fan in attendance during last month’s three-day event. On September 22, the last day of Riot Fest 2024, a 58-year-old man who attended the festival went missing. He attended the festival with his family and friends, whom he left to secure a better spot for the headlining set of Slayer. HJe was not seen or even heard from again after the disappearance, not until his family was contacted a day after. They were notified that he had been hospitalized for injuries to the head. Soon speculations hit online!

Fans and other attendees from the festival speculated online that the man, identified as Stephen Shult, was heavily injured during the mosh pit in Slayer’s headlining set, and sustained great injuries to his head there. On October 4, Saturday, Riot Fest officially issued a statement on social media that confirmed that the man sustaining head injuries had passed away on October 3rd. The festival wrote: “We are heartbroken to share that a festival attendee passed away yesterday. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and loved ones during thisincredibly challenging time.”

The statement continued: “The health, safety, and well-being of our fans and community have always been our top priority. We are aware of the various speculations surrounding this tragedy, including claims that it may be linked to the Slayer crowd. However, we want to clarify that this is not the case. The on-site medical time responded to this medical incident, near the Ferris Wheel area, prior to Slayer’s performance.”

 

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While the exact cause of death had not been shared on social media nor by the festival or the family, has been categorized as complications stemming from trauma to the brain in addition to internal bleeding. Brian Soto, the deceased’s friend said to the Chicago Tribune that “based on all the scrapes and bruises on his arms and legs and the brain injury…he had to have been trampled.” Shult’s daughter Jen Eaton also attends the festival with her father. Since then she has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the celebration of life services and Shult’s cremation. The campaign had been a hit among fans and other attendees of Riot Fest. On the campaign page, the deceased’s daughter wrote that her father had been transported to a hospital following the incident but under the wrong name.

From the campaign page, we also got to know that Shult was recovering “wonderfully” when he suddenly fell into a natural coma on October 2. As the doctors confirmed that Shult would have “no decent quality of life” moving forward, the family then decided to take him off life support. Eaton said that doctors are unsure what led to this sudden decline in his recovery and are still investigating.

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