Longtime New England Patriots fan and father of two Dale Mooney, 53, died Sunday after an incident at Gillette Stadium during a Patriots-Miami Dolphins game.
A witness alleges that Mooney was involved in an altercation and punched in the face and knocked unconscious by a Dolphins fan. The witness says Mooney never regained consciousness.
After being treated at the scene by EMTs, Mooney was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead shortly before midnight.
Tragedy: A longtime #Patriots fan died at the game Sunday night after being punched by a #Dolphins fan and hitting his head on the ground, causing him to lose consciousness and never regain it.
The fan, Dale Mooney, was a 30 year season ticket holder who was at the game with his… pic.twitter.com/4nT9cQnv9k
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 19, 2023
A spectator has now claimed that he witnessed a physical altercation between Mooney and a Dolphins fan.
“The Dolphins fan walks over and clearly punches him in the face,” Joey Kilmartin, of Nashua, New Hampshire, told MassLive. “(He) gets knocked out and you can tell right away he’s not OK.”
Kilmartin told the news outlet that Mooney also had gotten into a physical confrontation with other fans toward the end of the fourth quarter.
He said Mooney never regained consciousness after being punched and that the EMTs performed CPR on him before rushing him to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro.
Kilmartin told WCVB, “He basically grabbed another fan. They started tussling around for a few minutes. At one point, another fan walked over. He punched him … and the man just went out. It was pretty hard to watch.”
Mooney’s wife, Lisa, told WCVB, “I want to know what happened. What caused this? 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.”
Massachusetts State Police are investigating but have not clarified whether his death was related to an altercation.
An autopsy is pending.