Authorities say a 53-year-old New York woman who was waiting in line for an upcoming Twilight panel at the 2012 Comic-Con was struck and killed by a motorist as she tried to cross the street in front of the San Diego Convention Center.
Per the San Diego Union-Tribune , the victim, identified by Celebuzz as Gisella Gagliardi, dashed into the street to keep her place in line for the “Twilight: Breaking Dawn Vol. 2” panel, which will be held in the Center’s Hall H on Thursday.
Upon doing so, an oncoming Subaru Outback hit the woman before she could get out of its path. Unconscious and bleeding profusely from her head, the woman was rushed to a hospital where she later died.
Andra Brown of the SDPD recounted the tragedy to E!online:
“The call came in at 9:22 am Tuesday and she was pronounced dead at 9:51 am at the hospital…The 67-year-old white male driver of the car remained at the scene and was very cooperative during the investigation.”
Following the tragic accident, fellow Twilighters took to Twitter to pay respects to the victim using the hashtags #RIPTwiFanG and #FandomIsFamily and are also reportedly working to organize a moment of silence as well as a memorial fund.
The Twitter account for Robert Pattinson’s official fansite also tweeted:
“The fan that passed away was @mad4hugh Prayers go out to her family and friends. #riptwifanG”
Zap2It pointed out that the accident came shortly after a request via Twitter from the official Comic-Con account was sent out, asking fans to not line up for Hall H until set up is complete.
