The New Hampshire man who died after Sunday night’s Patriots game was punched in the face, fell to the ground and never regained consciousness, according to a witness at Gillette Stadium.
Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, died after an incident in the 300s tier of the stadium during the game on Sept. 17, according to the Norfolk district attorney’s office.
While the incident remains under investigation, a spectator told MassLive he saw the physical altercation that happened between Mooney and a Dolphins fan.
There was bickering back and forth throughout the game between one section of the crowd and another, and toward the end of the fourth quarter, he noticed Mooney in a physical altercation with other spectators, according to Joey Kilmartin, of Nashua, New Hampshire.
“The Dolphins fan walks over and clearly punches him in the face,” Kilmartin said. “[He] gets knocked out and you can tell right away he’s not OK.”
Mooney never got back up and EMTs arrived to perform CPR, according to Kilmartin, who later gave his account to Foxborough police.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” he said. “I feel bad for the family.”
Kilmartin sent a video of the incident to WCVB, which published stills from the video showing Mooney at the stadium and then his shirt getting pulled.
Mooney’s wife, Lisa, told WCVB that her husband was a ticket holder for 30 years and a father of two.
“I want to know what happened. What caused this?” she told the outlet. “I just don’t understand why people have to go to that extreme. Why can’t it just be fun? That’s all it’s supposed to be, a fun family event.”
No charges have been filed as of Monday per the district attorney’s office. Kilmartin said he witnessed police take one man into custody.
An autopsy is scheduled to take place in the coming days.
Story by Luis Fieldman, MassLive.com.
