Whatever Happened To Deadliest Catch's Joseph McMahon?
The following article includes mentions of gun violence and suicide.
Joe McMahon worked as an associate producer on Seasons 9 and 10 of "Deadliest Catch," amassing credits on a total of 19 episodes that aired between 2013 and 2014. In July 2015, McMahon died after he was shot outside of his own home, counting his name among a number of "Deadliest Catch" cast and crew who have sadly passed away.
Outlets like CBS reported that cops arrived on the scene around 2:00 a.m. after receiving reports of gunshot sounds in his neighborhood. At that point, McMahon had been shot multiple times and he was pronounced dead at the time of their arrival. He was 24 years old.
Meanwhile, the suspect was identified later that day. Investigators found him inside a vehicle, also dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. These were all of the details available about the incident in its immediate aftermath. However, McMahon's father, Tom McMahon, later penned an editorial outlining specifics in further detail. The suspected killer, it turned out, was someone Joe McMahon knew from his childhood.
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Joseph McMahon's shooting was premeditated
Tom McMahon shared a detailed account of the final night of his son Joe McMahon's life in a piece he wrote for Moms Demand Action — a subsidiary of gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. He recounted how the suspected killer was somebody that his son knew as a child, but hadn't seen for a time. One day, the suspect contacted Joe seemingly out of the blue, and the two of them agreed to get together with another friend named Simon.
The three met up and everything seemed normal. McMahon's father wrote that Simon later recalled that the only strange thing was that the alleged killer asked him repeatedly when he planned on leaving their get-together. Simon and the suspect both decided to head home around 2:00 a.m., but Joe ended up walking outside his home shortly afterward. It was then that the suspect allegedly shot him multiple times.
Joe was living with his mom and two sisters at the time. They heard the gunshots and found him immediately. This incident ultimately inspired Tom and Joe's mother Shelley to become involved with a network Everytown organizes to connect survivors of gun violence, after which Tom decided to share this story. "It's a bit surreal, being with other people who have all been directly impacted by gun violence. At times, it's overwhelming. But we will do whatever is asked of us because we strongly believe in a common goal — to end gun violence," he wrote.