Crime & Safety
FBI Investigates Cruise Ship Death Of Man Involved In Rampage: Report
A 35-year-old man traveling with his family died shortly after he was restrained by ship security officers an hour outside the Port of LA.
LOS ANGELES, CA — The FBI is investigating the death of a man on a Royal Caribbean ship shortly after it left the Port of Los Angeles on Friday Dec. 13.
Michael Virgil, 35, who was reportedly traveling with his fiancé and autistic son, 7, died after being restrained and doused with pepper spray by ship security. According to authorities and witnesses, the man had gone on a drunken rampage, chasing other passengers, assaulting a crew member and attempting to kick a door down.
Cell phone video shot by another passenger and aired on various TV news stations shows the man in a hallway leaning against a cabin door and repeatedly kicking it, while crew members try to calm him.
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The footage was shot by passenger Christifer Mikhail, who told FOX11 Virgil chased him down a hallway shortly after the ship hit open water on the trip to Ensenada.
"The gentlemen that was drunk said he was going to kill us," Mikhail told FOX 11. "He started chasing us down the hallway."
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"I was kind of scared," Mikhail added. "I'm stuck in this hallway."
According to witnesses, Virgil attacked crew members, kicked one in the head and was trying to kick down the cabin door to get to another crew member when a team of ship security officers tackled and zip tied him. They also sprayed him with pepper spray.
A short time later, he died aboard the ship, the Navigator of the Seas
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner listed Virgil's death as deferred pending further tests.
Relatives of Virgil told Fox11 they believe the ship's security injected him with some type of sedative, and he died within an hour. Virgil had a fiancee and a 7-year-old son with autism who were also on the cruise, a relative told the station.
"We are saddened by the passing of one of our guests," according to a statement from the cruise line. "We offered support to the family and are working with authorities on their investigation."
City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.
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