Manslaughter arrest made in death of hockey star Adam Johnson
Police in England have made an arrest in connection to the death of Minnesota native Adam Johnson, whose throat was slashed by the skate of an opposing player during a game between the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers in the Elite Ice Hockey League last month.
The arrest was announced Tuesday – 17 days after the incident – but South Yorkshire Police did not identify the person taken into custody. In a press release, the department said detectives "arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter."
The assumption is that the arrested individual is Sheffield hockey player Matt Petgrave, whose skate struck Johnson in the neck during the Oct. 28 game. Horrific video of the play saw Johnson fall to the ice and then attempt to skate to the bench while holding his neck. Blood covered the ice and Johnson was later pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
"Our investigation launched immediately following this tragedy and we have been carrying out extensive enquiries ever since to piece together the events which led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances," South Yorkshire Police Detective Chief Superintendent Becs Horsfall said in the release.
"We have been speaking to highly specialised experts in their field to assist in our enquiries and continue to work closely with the health and safety department at Sheffield City Council, which is supporting our ongoing investigation.
"Adam's death has sent shockwaves through many communities, from our local residents here in Sheffield to ice hockey fans across the world. We know these communities will expect us to handle this investigation with the same professionalism, fairness and sensitivity as any other and request that members of the public refrain from comment and speculation which could hinder this process. Our thoughts remain with all affected by this devastating incident as enquiries continue."
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Johnson, 29, grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota where he was a high school hockey star. He played two years of hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and later played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL and in the American Hockey League before his move to play in Europe.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.