The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a tragic incident that occurred on Sunday night in the 300-level seats at Gillette Stadium during a Dolphins-Patriots game. Just before 11:00 p.m. local time, a fight broke out, killing one Patriots supporter, 53-year-old Dale Mooney.
Mooney, a Newmarket, New Hampshire resident and 30-year New England Patriots season ticket holder, was watching Sunday Night Football with several friends. Near the conclusion of the game, Mooney was being heckled by a small group of Miami Dolphins fans.
Mooney and an unnamed Dolphins fan are seen starting to fight in videos taken by nearby fans. During one exchange of blows, the Dolphins fan repeatedly hit Mooney in the face, causing Mooney to pass out and fall onto a chair. Rapid arrival of a medical staff at the spot.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Dale Mooney had a “apparent medical episode,” according to Massachusetts State Police. The efforts of the security and medical officials to revive Mooney were unsuccessful. Sturdy Memorial Hospital, which is about 30 minutes distant from the stadium, was the next destination.
Mooney was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead less than an hour after the incident. The Medical Examiner has not yet responded to the investigators’ questions; they will determine the cause of death. As of yet, there have been no complaints lodged against the Dolphins fan.
Following the game, Joey Kilmartin, who observed and videotaped the event, stated, “Everyone sensed something was amiss when the guy in the Dolphins shirt got carried away by cops. It didn’t truly appear as though the man was breathing until about a minute had passed.
The altercation was “hard to watch” and “unsettling” for Kilmartin and everyone else who had to witness it, he said. It is unknown what the Dolphins fans said to Dale Mooney. Scenes like these have no place in a sporting environment, not even when they involve rival teams.
In an interview with Boston 25 News, Dale Mooney’s wife Lisa described her husband as a “good dad” to their two adult kids who weren’t there at the game when he fell. How anything like this could happen in a culture that values families, especially her husband’s, she wondered.
He is hard to be mad with. He has the patience of a saint. She continued by saying that Dale Mooney had no known medical conditions that would have hastened his dying. She said of her spouse, “I don’t know what occurred. “Numb… I’m just numb, that’s all. This is simply too unbelievable to be true. I’m interested in knowing what happened.
Detectives are unable to definitively determine if Dale’s death was a direct result of the altercation until the Medical Examiner performs an autopsy on his remains. Charges will eventually have to be filed, but the severity of those charges will depend on how the autopsy turns out.
For everyone who plans to watch a sporting event in the future, Lisa Mooney has a clear message. “I just don’t understand why individuals act in such a radical way. Why can’t it just be fun? She said, “It’s just meant to be a nice family gathering.” We are offering the Mooney family our prayers.