Cannibal Corpse issue first statement on arrest of guitarist Pat O’Brien

[News]

After a week of silence, Cannibal Corpse have finally released a statement about the recent arrest of the band’s guitarist Pat O’Brien on charges of burglary and assault.

More details on this story emerged yesterday, with the Tampa Bay Times reporting that a search warrant to O’Brien’s rented home in Northdale, Florida, had turned up an arsenal listed as roughly 50 shotguns, 10 semiautomatic rifles (including a couple variants of AK-47s), two Uzi-style rifles, 20 handguns, a sawed-off shotgun, and other weapons. Also in the house were hundreds of rounds of ammunition and three skulls.

Cannibal Corpse’s official statement, as posted on their Facebook page, reads as follows:

As a band and as individuals, we all want nothing but the best for our brother and partner, Pat. While we can offer no further information about the incident, we wanted everyone to know that Pat is getting the help he needs and appreciates the love and support from Cannibal Corpse fans around the world.

Pat is currently with family and friends and looks forward to a healthy return at some point. For anyone wondering, all Cannibal Corpse touring will happen as planned and all shows will be played.

While that should reassure fans that were concerned about the band’s upcoming slate of shows on the spring 2019 North American leg of Slayer’s farewell tour, that does leave open the possibility that they will soldier on without O’Brien, if necessary.

O’Brien has been officially charged with “aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with deadly weapon, and burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery.” The 53-year-old musician was arrested on December 10th after allegedly entering a neighbor’s home and pushing one of its residents to the ground, while telling the occupants the rapture was coming.

He was found later that night by the police hiding behind a fence and allegedly charged at one of the arresting officers with a knife. He reportedly had to be tased several times in order to be detained. At the time of these incidents, the house O’Brien was renting caught on fire, complete with the aforementioned arsenal of weapons. He was released from prison this past Friday after posting bail.

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