An Arlington Heights man described by associates as a metallic music fan has died weeks after they mentioned he disappeared from the ultimate day of the Riot Fest competition in North Lawndale’s Douglass Park solely to be discovered injured the following day at an space hospital.
Family and friends positioned Stephen Shult, 58, at Stroger Hospital, two miles from the competition, the day after family and friends misplaced observe of him on Sept. 22. He suffered head accidents that his family and friends suspect got here by means of some violent motion. On Thursday, Shult died on the West Facet hospital.
“We don’t have a first-person view of what truly occurred, however primarily based on all of the scrapes and bruises on his legs and arms and the mind harm, the most typical factor that all of us concluded was that he needed to have been trampled,” longtime good friend Brian Soto instructed the Tribune.
However an post-mortem carried out on Saturday was inconclusive, in line with the Cook dinner County health worker’s workplace. It would take a number of weeks for a last ruling on Shult’s trigger and method of dying.
Shult’s spouse and daughters declined to remark when reached by cellphone. A GoFundMe arrange by one in every of his daughters had raised $5,739 as of Saturday afternoon. Within the replace put up saying Shult’s dying, his household mentioned his situation deteriorated after early indicators of restoration.
Shult’s good friend Soto, 38, who accompanied him to the competition, instructed the Tribune that Shult had been with him earlier than the live performance and solely went lacking after the live performance started.
A resident of the western suburbs, Shult was a giant fan of metallic music, significantly the acts Dio, Metallica, Mastodon and Rob Zombie. “The 2 issues that he was all the time doing (have been) listening to metallic music and watching the cooking channel on mute,” Soto mentioned.
Shult had been significantly excited to see the band Slayer, so Soto—who’d attended the competition for a number of years—invited him to make use of the free tickets he’d gained. They attended the competition Saturday and spent nearly all Sunday camped close to the Metro Stage. Soto mentioned that they had agreed to satisfy on the competition Ferris Wheel within the occasion they have been separated.
That Sunday evening, Soto mentioned Shult left the world the place that they had been sitting simply after Slayer started to play, desirous to get nearer to the stage. His daughter noticed simply after he left that he’d forgotten his cellphone, so that they went to satisfy him on the Ferris wheel as beforehand mentioned. “He by no means confirmed up,” Soto mentioned.
The household reported Shult lacking to police and later came upon from a competition employee’s Fb message that he had been taken to Stroger Hospital, Soto mentioned. On the hospital, Soto mentioned they discovered Shult in “tough form.”
A spokesperson for Chicago police mentioned they have been notified concerning the dying on Friday and that officers “responded to Stroger relating to the dying of a 58-year-old male who suffered an harm to the pinnacle.” Police known as the matter a “non-criminal dying.”
In a social media put up Friday, the organizers of Riot Fest supplied condolences to Shult’s household, saying he suffered a medical incident earlier than the Slayer efficiency. Competition organizers additionally refuted on-line hypothesis that Shult’s could have been injured by Moshing, a typically violent type of dance at metallic concert events typically known as slam dancing.
“We’re conscious of the assorted speculations surrounding this tragedy, together with claims that it might be linked to the Slayer crowd,” the put up learn. “Nevertheless, we need to make clear that this isn’t the case.”
Soto mentioned it was “irritating” to see the Riot Fest put up that mentioned Shult had been injured earlier than the efficiency on the Ferris wheel.
Funeral preparations for Shult have been pending.
