Tacoma Dome officials don’t know why a monster truck launched a Frisbee-sized hunk of metal into the stands Friday night, killing a 6-year-old boy.
An investigation is under way into the accident, which also injured an adult spectator, Tacoma deputy city manager Rey Arellano said Saturday.
City officials didn’t have enough information about the accident to describe it Saturday afternoon, and Monster Jam show producer Feld Motor Sports did not divulge details.
The missile-like debris struck Graham Elementary kindergartner Sebastian Hizey in the head, shearing off a 3-inch-long, 3-inch-wide chunk of his skull, said his father, Jessie Hizey of Puyallup.
Sebastian Hizey died early Saturday. No information was available on the man who was injured.
The accident occurred as a crowd of 10,000 watched Natural High, a huge red-and-silver truck, spinning doughnuts in the dirt. The behemoth vehicle, crippled and forklifted away earlier in the show, roared back onto the track following a break, Jessie Hizey said.
The crowd cheered as its massive churning tires spun up mud. Suddenly, a metal ring weighing 7 to 12 pounds rocketed out from under the truck into the east end of the stands, Jessie Hizey said.
Read more on this story in The Tacoma News-Tribune.