On June 6th 2012, Radiohead drum technician Scott Johnson was killed at Toronto’s Downsview Park after the roof of a temporary stage collapsed.
The incident took place around 4 pm — an hour prior to when gates were set to open to the audience. According to reports, a “scaffolding-type structure” that hung 40-60 feet above the mains stage, collapsed — killing Johnson and injuring three others.
Radiohead have now released a statement, addressing the tragic death of the beloved drum engineer. The statement revealed that the Discipline Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) held a hearing with engineer Domenic Cugliari Cugliari, who acknowledged that a “catalog of errors and the negligence on his part that led to the stage collapse and Scott’s death.”
“On 16th November 2020, the Discipline Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) conducted a hearing to investigate Domenic Cugliari, the engineer responsible for the design and approval of the stage which collapsed at Downsview Park in Toronto, ahead of our scheduled show on 16th June 2012, killing Scott Johnson, our tour technician and friend,” the band wrote in a post on Instagram.
The band continued, “Mr Cugliari has acknowledged in this hearing, his catalogue of errors and the negligence on his part that led to the stage collapse and Scott’s death. These admissions are 8 years too late.
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“If the evidence now accepted by Mr Cugliari had been agreed at the original court case brought against him, @livenation and the contractor Optex Staging, it would have been complete in one day, with a very different outcome and some justice would have been delivered. As it is, Mr Cugliari has now retired and, is seemingly beyond any legal recrimination.”
“This is a sad day. Our thoughts and love are, as ever, with Scott’s parents, Ken and Sue Johnson, his family and friends, and our crew.”
As Pitchfork report, the father of Scott Johnson, Ken Johnson, sat through the six-hour hearing. In an email sent to the publication, Scott wrote: “No one wanted this to happen, but it could have been avoided.”
He continued, “It is very difficult to control feelings after eight years of misery, and, trust me, time is not a healer. I look professionally and hope that this will not happen again, but no one has yet come forward with new procedures to my knowledge.”
Radiohead dedicated their 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool, to Scott Johnson.
