A Project Runway star has tragically died aged 39.
After hearing the tragic news of the star’s passing, fans have flooded social media to pay tribute.
One person writes: “This is so sad to hear, I’ve followed his work since his season on Project Runway. I’ll pray for his family.”
“I remember him from Project Runway, I was cheering for him, he made clothes for real women,” a second user added.
“He designed and made a friend’s wedding dress before Project Runway in 2019,” Someone else types. “He was the most amazing designer, husband and father, friend, and human. Two of my friends were models for him. We are all heartbroken.”
Fashion designer Arthur Folasa Ah Loo appeared as a contestant on the reality show Project Runway in 2019.
The self-taught designer focused on ‘colorful and boldly patterned designs’ and finished in 13th place in season 17 of the show.
Ah Loo, from Samoa, also co-founded Creative Pacific, a nonprofit that champions the Pacific Islands in the arts.
The designer had dressed Disney‘s Moana actress Auli’i Cravalho and the cast members of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
The 39-year-old attended a ‘No Kings’ demonstration in downtown Salt Lake City.
The protests took place all across the U.S. on June 14, against President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade.
In recent months, many citizens have seen Trump steering the country toward authoritarianism.
The mass ICE raids, including the president deploying the military to Los Angeles during the protests, have sparked national outrage.
Ah Loo was among an estimated 10,000 participants of the ‘No Kings’ demonstration that took place in Salt Lake.
Around 7:56 p.m., a Salt Lake City Police sergeant reported hearing gunfire at 151 South State Street.
The sound caused hundreds of protestors to panic as they ‘ran for safety’ and hid in parking garages and nearby businesses.
Officers moved in to secure the scene, where they found Ah Loo suffering from gunshot wounds.
Two officers provided emergency care, and Ah Loo was transported to the hospital. Tragically, the 39-year-old died from his injuries.
According to police and multiple news outlets, a ‘peacekeeping team’ was at the event, who wore high-visibility neon green vests and were armed.
Two peacekeepers spotted a ‘suspicious man’ in the crowd and watched him move behind a wall in a secluded area.
The peacekeepers claim the man took an AR-15-style rifle out of a backpack. The suspect has since been identified as 24-year-old, Arturo Gamboa.
As per SLCPD, the peacekeepers demanded that Gamboa drop the weapon, but he reportedly lifted the rifle and ran toward a crowd of people on State Street and held the firearm in a ‘firing position’.
Three rounds were shot by a peacekeeper, one hitting Ah Loo and another struck Gamboa.
The suspect was later discovered by police ‘crouching among a group of people with a gunshot wound.’
Gamboa was taken to the hospital and later charged with murder at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail.
Salt Lake City police chief Brian Redd said: “Our victim was not the intended target but rather an innocent bystander participating in the demonstration.”
He added that police will ‘thoroughly investigate’ the incident and ‘we will not allow this individual to act to create fear in our community’.
A GoFundMe has since been set up to support the family. Ah Loo’s brother-in-law stated their lives have been ‘shattered.’
He writes: “This tragedy is not only traumatic to my family but a testimony of the instability our country is facing. I am doing everything we can to support my family and honour my brother-in-law’s memory.”
Ah Loo is survived by his wife Laura and their two young children – daughter Vera and son Isaac.
Click here to donate to the GoFundMe.
