National Hockey League goalie Matiss Kivlenieks of the Columbus Blue Jackets was killed Sunday night after an errant firework from an unlicensed Fourth of July display tilted and hit him in the chest, a Michigan medical examiner announced Monday.
According to the Associated Press, the 24-year-old Kivlenieks was in a hot tub with other people when a mortar-style firework tilted and started firing into a crowd. Kivlenieks and others scrambled out of the hot tub to get to safety when Kivlenieks was struck in the chest.
Police and EMTs from Novi, Michigan responded to the incident and rushed Kivlenieks to the hospital, where he was declared dead. There were no other serious injuries reported in the incident.
Initial reports of the incident report stated Kivlenieks died of head trauma after falling on a concrete patio as he tried to get to a safe area, but the medical examiner determined that he died of a blow to the chest from a firework.
Born in Riga, Latvia, Kivlenieks was at the start of his professional career, splitting the season between the Blue Jackets and their minor league affiliate Cleveland Monsters.
A motorsports enthusiast, he attended the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington as the guest of IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi. “This hits hard,” Rossi tweeted, without an iota of irony. “Prayers to the family and the team.”