Condolences: Dave Shapiro
• Veteran talent agent Dave Shapiro, 42, co-founder of Sound Talent Group (STG), and the owner of Velocity Records and Velocity Aviation, was killed, along with at least two colleagues, when Shapiro’s 1985 Cessna Citation 550 crashed into a military housing neighborhood in San Diego in the early hours of Thursday, May 22.
Shapiro’s death was confirmed in a statement from his agency, which reads, “We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”
There are conflicting reports about exactly how many passengers were aboard the plane, but according to TMZ and the San Diego Union-Tribune, Daniel Williams, former drummer of the band The Devil Wears Prada was also among the dead.
The tracking site FlightAware shows Shapiro’s Cessna Citation II jet took off from Teterboro, NJ, Wednesday night, and made a refueling stop in Wichita, KS before continuing on to its stated destination of Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego. As reported by the AP, the jet, which was registered to Shapiro, crashed around 4am Thursday into a neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing in San Diego during foggy weather, setting at least one home ablaze along with numerous vehicles parked on the street. Elliot Simpson with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports that the plane clipped power lines before slamming into the house.
Shapiro launched STG in 2018 in partnership with Tim Borror and Matt Andersen. According to the agency’s website, STG has with a roster of more than 400 artists, including Sum 41, Hanson, Steve Vai, Lamb Of God, Citizen Cope, Vanessa Carlton, Pierce the Veil, I Prevail, Set it Off, Story of the Year, Silverstein, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive and Eve 6.
