Mythbusters regular Erik Gates dies in freak accident
Erik Gates, a regular on the popular show MythBusters, has died following a thirty foot fall in a work-related accident.
Gates, 47, owned Gateco Electric and was working at a site when he fell through a skylight. Gates suffered blunt force chest injuries and died on Sunday. In an even sadder twist, Gates’ brother Dirk Gates is president and CEO of Xirrus, Inc.- the company that owns the site where his brother was killed. Xirrus’ CFO commented on the tragedy to the Ventura County Star:
“He was a good guy,” Steve DeGennaro, Xirrus Inc.’s co-founder and chief financial officer, said Monday. “He survived cancer, he jumps with parachutes, he base jumps. He’s an active guy who was used to taking precautions. This was a freak accident that shouldn’t have happened.”
Erik and Dirk Gates were active in rocketry and operated a website, Gates Brother Rocketry. It was Gates’ expertise in rockets that initiated his involvement with MythBusters. On the MythBusters official Twitter feed, condolences were expressed for Gates earlier today:
(1 of 2) Team MB wishes to express our deepest sympathies on the passing of our beloved rocket expert, Erik.
(2 of 2) You were an honorary MythBuster and will be sorely missed.
Erik Gates appeared on four episodes of MythBusters as the shows “Amateur Rocket Expert.” He appeared on the initial pilot for the show in 2003, and in subsequent episodes Ming Dynasty Astronaut (2004,) Bullet Proof Water, 360 Degree Swing (2005,) and Confederate Rocket (2005.)
Drummer for Avenged Sevenfold found dead at home
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—Police say James Owen Sullivan, a drummer and backup vocalist for the Southern California band Avenged Sevenfold, has been found dead at his home in Huntington Beach.
Lt. John Domingo says the 28-year-old Sullivan, who went by the stage name The Rev, appears to have died of natural causes on Monday.
The Orange County coroner’s office is investigating the death.
Avenged Sevenfold formed in Huntington Beach in 1999 and won Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2006. According to their MySpace page, the five-man metalcore band was working on their fifth album.
The band released a statement Monday expressing their sadness and calling Sullivan “one of the world’s best drummers,” and “our best friend and brother.”
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