List of graffiti and street-art injuries and deaths

This is a list of graffiti and street art injuries and deaths.

Brussels, 2018

Overview

There were six people who died creating graffiti on train carriages in New South Wales by 1988.^[1] Nine people were seriously injured or died creating graffiti on railway property in New South Wales in the 18 months prior to December 2001.^[1]

Melbourne, Australia, 2020

In July 1988 in the London Underground there were people who had received "... electric shocks and burns crossing the 600-volt rails to tag a wall."^[2] In June 2008 in Los Angeles there had been "...taggers getting injured once every couple of months from falls or being 'clipped by a car'.".^[3]

When people have taken photos of newly created graffiti there have been accidents where deaths have occurred.^[4][5] In the United States in 1993 a 23-year-old person was on train tracks with a group of people and it is thought that they had spray painted graffiti on the side of a freight carriage. The 23-year-old was taking photos of the graffiti when the sound of an approaching train was heard. The 23-year-old began to move across the train tracks and a collision occurred with the train and they died.^[4]

In Russia in 2020 a 22-year-old had created graffiti at a train station and they climbed up onto a train carriage to take a photo of the graffiti they had completed and they received an electric shock and died.^[5][6]

Graffiti and street art injuries and deaths

Date	Country	Type	Died or injured	Ages	Description
7 September 1973	United States	Collision with train	Died	15	B Brown was killed while he and 2 of his friends were spraying graffiti on an expedition in a Queens subway station when he was then struck by an oncoming train.[7]
28 September 1983	United States	Choked or strangled	Died	25	Michael Stewart was arrested in New York City for tagging and was beaten badly while in police custody. He was pronounced dead 13 days later as a result of police brutality.[8]
December 1986	Australia	Collision with signal box	Died	14	A 14-year-old was leaning out of a moving train while attempting to spray paint graffiti on the side of the train, when his head collided with a signal box. He later died from his injuries.[9][10]
9 November 1987	United Kingdom	Dragged by train	Died	11	An 11-year-old died when he was at an underground station next to the tracks trying to graffiti trains and a train dragged him 50 yards (45 m) into a tunnel. It is speculated that he had been opposite the platform hiding in a gap in a wall so that he could lean out to graffiti trains, and his clothing may have been caught on a train, which resulted in him being dragged into a tunnel.[11][2]
1988	Australia	?	Died	?	It was reported that a person died when they were "... trying to paint the outside of a moving train"[10]
11 August 1989	Australia	Collision with signal box	Died	16	A 16-year-old died when he was leaning from a train carriage door and his head collided with a signal box. A marker pen was found on the railway tracks nearby, there was fresh graffiti on the train, and the person had previously graffitied the inside of the train carriage.[12][10]
29 November 1989	United States	Collision with train	Died	17, 19	Two people died when they had been spray painting graffiti on the walls of a subway train tunnel and a train collided with them.[13][14][15]
16 December 1989	Australia	Collision with train	Injured	15	A person was leaning out the side of a moving train and they were attempting to create graffiti on the side of the train using a felt pen when they fell underneath the wheels of the train about 400 metres (1,300 ft) from a train station. Their left leg was amputated and they received microsurgery on their right leg and it was uncertain as to whether the person would need to have their right leg amputated.[16]
20 February 1992	Switzerland	Collision with train	Died	15, 16	Two teenagers died when they were attempting to spray graffiti on a railway electricity shed and were hit by a train.[17][18]
8 November 1992	Germany	Collision with train	Died	Both 17	Two people died after they were on a railway line and a train collided with them. It is speculated that they had been on the railway line in relation to the creation of graffiti.[19]
25 May 1993	Australia	?	Died	21	A person died when they were hanging out of a moving train while attempting to create graffiti and were crushed to death.[20]
25 June 1993	United States	Amtrak train	Died		Skate or SK8 of CBS crew was struck by an Amtrak train while painting a freight in Los Angeles.[21]
26 April 1995	Australia	Collision with bridge	Died	14	A person died when they were leaning out the door of a moving train and they were spraying graffiti on the side of the train and they collided with a road bridge.[22]
7 May 1995	United States	Electric shock	Died	16	A teenager died when they were attempting to spray paint a wall and they touched an electrical transformer behind them receiving an electric shock. They were standing on a platform two to three stories above the ground and the amount of space between the edge of the platform and the three electrical transformers behind them was estimated at one foot.[23][24]
6 May 1996	Germany	Collision with train	Died	14	Two 14-year-olds were on railway lines and one of the 14-year-olds wanted to spray their tag on a noise barrier that was along the sides of a railway line. An InterRegio train then collided with both 14-year-olds and one of the 14-year-olds died in the collision.[25][19]
2 October 1996	Australia	Collision with bridge	Died	15	A person died when they climbed up onto the roof of a moving train and whilst on the roof of the train they attempted to create graffiti and as the train was approaching a station they hit the overhead wires. They were taken to hospital and died the following day.[26][27]
18 December 1996	Germany	Collision with train	Died	19,17	Two people died when they were on railway lines while graffiti tagging, and a train collided with them.[19]
1997	United States	Collision with train	Injured	?	A person's foot was severed while they were painting the side of a train.[28]
11 June 1997	United States	Fall	Injured	19	Daniel Supple, or Ozie, was injured in Los Angeles when they fell 100 feet (30 m) from the top of a concrete overpass support pylon above a freeway. They had been on the top of the pylon spraying graffiti on the side of the overpass, when they fell onto an embankment along the freeway. They received injuries including spinal fractures, two broken ankles and a broken left arm.[29][30][31][3]
18 March 1998	United States	Gunshot	Died	18	Tie One, "his legal name was Jonathan See Lim. He was 18. He was shot and killed while climbing on a fire escape outside a" San Francisco apartment. His back pack was filled with spray paint.[32][33]
January 1999	France	Electric shock	Died	19	A person climbed onto the roof of a train carriage that they were looking to tag, and they received an electric shock from the overhead power lines and died.[34]
August 1999	United States	Unconfirmed	Died	?	A person died when they fell from a railroad trestle bridge and it was speculated that a collision may have occurred with a train that was travelling past and they fell 40 feet (12 m) from the bridge. It was also speculated that they jumped from the bridge to avoid a train. The person had been painting graffiti at the bridge.[35]
28 December 1999	Germany	Collision with train	Died	21	A person was inside a railway tunnel and they had spray painted tags on the walls of the tunnel. It is thought that the person saw a train coming and moved away from the railway track. A second train was coming down a second railway track and the person then collided with the front carriage of this second train. The accident occurred at 5:25am and the person was taken to hospital where they died at 8pm.[25]
April 2001	United Kingdom	Collision with train	Died	18	A person died when they were spray painting graffiti beside a railway line and a train collided with them.[36]
3 August 2001	Germany	Collision with train	Died	19, 20	Two people died when they had sprayed graffiti on the pillar of a bridge beside railway lines and a train travelling at 100 km/h (62 mph) collided with them several meters away from where the graffiti was on the pillar.[37][38][39]
19 March 2002	Australia	Collision with train	Died	19	A person died when a train collided with them on railway lines and it is speculated the person had been attempting to create graffiti. They found spray paint cans and other graffiti related objects near where the person was found lying dead on the railway track.[40][41]
9 May 2003	Australia	Collision with train	Died	16	A person died when they had been spraying graffiti on the side of a railway line and then a train collided with them and the collision with the train occurred the width of two train tracks away from where they had been creating graffiti.[42]
2003	Portugal	Electric shock	Died	21	A person died when they were walking alongside train lines in an underground train tunnel, and fell onto a live third rail and received an electric shock. They were found lying on the track with a can of paint next to them.[43][44]
17 September 2003	United States	Collision with train	Died	24	A person died when they were underneath a bridge and a passing train collided with them. Fresh graffiti was found underneath the bridge, and a backpack with spray paint cans was close to the persons body.[45][46][47]
1 February 2005	Canada	Collision with train	Died	18	A person died when a passing train collided with them and prior to the collision they had been spray painting a tag on the outside of a stationary freight carriage.[48][49][50]
21 June 2005	France	Electric shock	Died	20	A person began spray painting a wagon in the Paris Métro and had been able to walk on the live third rail without receiving an electric shock. Railway workers maintaining the track nearby had turned off the electric current and then reconnected it once they had finished work. He then began to leave the railway tracks and dropped an object that he then went to pick up, and while doing so lost his balance, fell on the third rail, and received an electric shock and was killed.[51]
21 December 2005	United Kingdom	Collision with train	Died	17	A person died when they had been on railway lines and an express train passing through collided with them. It is speculated that they had been on the track in relation to writing graffiti on trains.[52]
5 January 2007	United States	Collision with train	Died	13	A teenager was writing tags on signal boxes close to railway tracks when they began to leave the area they were tagging. They were going across a row of multiple railway tracks when they collided with a train going at 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) and they died. It is speculated that a second train that had been travelling down the tracks had obstructed their view of the train that they collided with.[53][54]
16 May 2007	United States	Electric shock	Died	18	A person was sitting on top of an electrical transformer inside an electricity substation spraying graffiti when an electric arc struck them. They received burns injuries to most of their body and they died in hospital two days later.[55]
2008	United States	Collision with car	Died	?	A person died when they were attempting to spray paint a median area and a car collided with them.[3]
20 January 2008	Australia	Drowning	Died	21, 25	Two people were inside a stormwater drain spraying graffiti on the side of it when it began raining heavily. A sudden increase in water in the drain swept them a kilometre (about half a mile) down the drain and both people drowned.[56][57][58][59]
13 April 2008	Australia	Fall	Injured	14	A 14-year-old had been spraying graffiti on the side of a building and they were walking over a fibreglass roof when it collapsed and they fell 6 metres (20 ft) to the ground and they received severe facial injuries, broken teeth, a broken jaw, fractures to their legs and a fractured wrist.[60][61]
May 2008	United Kingdom	Fall	Injured	24	While graffiti tagging, a person fell from a multi-story building and received head and internal injuries and a broken back.[3]
21 June 2008	United States	Fall	Injured	?	It was speculated that a person was spraying graffiti on an overpass when they fell onto a freeway. They were clutching a can of spray paint as they lay on the freeway. It is thought that they may have broken their back in the fall and they were taken to hospital for treatment.[3]
15 July 2008	United States	Gang violence	Died/Injured	6, 16, 26, 51	Three out of four people died on the same day in Los Angeles when two were spray painting graffiti, one confronting the gang members, and a 6-year-old was spray painted in the face.[62]
10 October 2008	Germany	Collision with train	Died	31	A person died and it was speculated that they were spraying graffiti on a bridge and a collision with a train occurred.[63]
20 January 2009	Netherlands	Collision with train	Died, Injured	17, 18	A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old collided with a train; it is speculated that the two were painting a wall with graffiti, as spray paint cans were found lying next to the railway line. The 17-year-old was killed when the train collided with him, and the 18-year-old received serious injuries.[64][65][66][67][68]
20 February 2009	United States	Fall / Collision with car	Died	28	It was speculated that a person was on the catwalk of a roadway sign when they fell 24 feet (7.3 m) to the expressway below. Later, a car travelling down the expressway reached the location where they were lying on the road and a collision occurred. There was silver graffiti that had been newly painted on the roadway sign above the person on the freeway, and they had a can of silver spray paint with them.[69][28]
16 December 2009	Denmark	Electric shock	Died	17	A person died when they were standing on the roof of a train and received an electric shock, and fell off the train to the ground. It is thought they had been graffiti tagging trains.[70][71][72]
19 March 2010	Germany	Collision with train	Died	19	A person died when they were on railway lines looking to spray graffiti on a train that was stationary on the train tracks, and a collision occurred when a train travelled past them.[73][74]
29 June 2010	United States	Disease	Died	50	Rammellzee spent his last days in Far Rockaway, Queens where he died due to cardiovascular disease.[75]
4 July 2010	United Kingdom	Fall	Died	22	A person was walking across a warehouse roof to gain access to a railway line where they were intending to create graffiti, when they fell through a skylight on the roof. They received head injuries, and later died in hospital.[76][77]
9 July 2010	Germany	Collision with train	Died	Both 15	Two 15-year-olds were spray painting graffiti on the side of a freight train carriage. Another set of train tracks were next to them and an ICE train traveled past them on these tracks at an estimated 120 km/h (75 mph). It was reported that, "According to the first statements by the ICE train driver, the 15-year-olds still tried to get off the tracks. "We assume that you (they) saw the train,"...The train driver had tried with an emergency signal and braking to prevent the accident... "If they had lay down flat, it might have turned out lightly..."[78] One 15-year-old died immediately from the injuries he received, and the second died from his injuries the following day.[79][80][81]
23 October 2010	Poland	Collision with train	Died	19	A person died when they had finished spray painting the wall of a viaduct; it is thought that they went to paint a freight train that was slowly travelling past. A second train traveled past them on the track, and a rush of air pulled them underneath the wheels of the train.[82][83][84]
31 October 2010	Canada	Collision with train	Died	17 (all three)	Three 17-year-olds died when they were intending to spray paint graffiti under a road bridge and a passing train collided with them. It is thought that the train was quiet as it travelled down the tracks and they did not hear it coming.[85][86][87][88]
26 May 2011	United States	Collision with train	Died	20	A person died when they were walking on train tracks and a train collided with them. Cans of spray paint were found close to their body.[89][90]
29 August 2011	Australia	Fall	Died	17	A person died after they fell 15 metres (50 ft) from a road bridge. It is speculated they had been spraying graffiti on the side of the bridge, as a backpack was found with the body that had spray cans inside.[91][92]
11 January 2012	Australia	Collision with train	Died	18	An 18-year-old died when they were walking through a train underpass that went underneath a road bridge and a train collided with them. They were walking through the underpass as they were looking to graffiti a wall. One other person, who was there at the time with the person on the train tracks, described the approach of the train as "something that they had been unable to hear until they saw it".[93][94][95]
March 2013	United States	Fall	Died	22	A person was spray painting graffiti on a bridge overpass and they fell from the bridge. Their body was later found nearby. There was recently applied red graffiti on the bridge near where their body was, as well as similar paint on their hands.[96][97][98]
1 April 2013	United States	Undetermined	Died	30	A person was killed from what was thought to be asphyxiation after the rope that they were using to move down the outside of a high rise building wound tightly around their chest and suffocated them. Their knees were up around their chest inside of the rope in a technique called a "body belay". Their body was found still on the rope at the 17th floor of the office building. They were not wearing any climbing equipment. Spray paint cans and etching tools were found on the roof of the building.[98][99][97]
7 July 2013	United Kingdom	Fall	Died	16	A teenager died when they fell from a three-storey building that they had been spray painting.[100][101]
27 October 2013	Germany	Collision with train	Unconfirmed	25	A person was on a bridge next to railway lines writing graffiti on a wall and a passing train collided with them. The collision with the train occurred at about 7:10am. Just after 8am the train driver of another train that was passing by saw the person lying unconscious on the side of the railway line. The injuries they received included severe head injuries and they were placed in an induced coma, and a day after the accident had occurred it was uncertain as to whether they would survive.[102][103][104][105][106]
31 October 2013	Germany	Electric shock from arc	Injured	21	A person was spraying graffiti on freight carriages when they climbed on top of a carriage intending to tag a bridge. They were holding a spray can in their right hand, and an electric arc jumped over to the spray can and went through their hand, arm, and chest, then exited out of their right foot. They lost consciousness and were then lifted up and carried to a street by the people with them. They were in a coma in hospital for 36 hours, and then later put into a medically induced coma for a week. They received burns to over 90% of their body. Half of their burns injuries healed by themself and half were repaired using 10 skin graft operations that occurred over a period of 3 to 4 months.[107]
26 December 2013	Germany	Electric shock	Died	15	A teenager died when they were in a freight train yard looking for a location to create graffiti when they climbed a ladder attached to the side of a freight train carriage, and received an electric shock from overhead power lines.[108]
17 March 2014	France	Collision with tunnel	Died	20	A person died when they leaned out of a train window to spray graffiti on the outside of a train and collided with the entrance to a tunnel.[109]
25 May 2014	Greece	Electric shock	Died	17	A person died when they were at a train station intending to graffiti trains and they were going across train tracks when they slipped and fell onto a live third rail and were electrocuted.[110][111]
2 July 2014	United States	Electric shock	Died	42	Jason Wulf died after he was electrocuted by the third rail inside of a Brooklyn subway tunnel.[112]
25 September 2014	Germany	Collision with train	Died	64	Walter Josef Fischer was on train tracks when he was hit by a passing S-Bahn train. The cover of a power cable had newly sprayed graffiti on it, and a spray can was located close to him.[113][114][115]
25 September 2014	Australia	Fall from moving train	Died	34	A person was killed after they had been riding on the outside of a moving train and attempting to spray graffiti on it when they fell from the train and was killed.[116][117][118]
1 November 2014	Australia	Electric shock	Died	26	A person died when they were spraying graffiti on train carriages at a train depot and they climbed onto one of the carriages, raised their hand and was electrocuted by overhead power lines.[119][120][118]
January 2015	United States	Police officers	Died	?	A person was shot and killed by two Denver police officers after the death of Sean Price last year.[121]
1 November 2015	United States	Gunshot	Died	46	A person who is known as "2 Mean" (or Fitzgerald McBride) was fatally shot twice in Brooklyn in the early morning of November.[122]
7 December 2015	Portugal	Collision with train	Died	18, 20, ?	Three people died when they were attempting to graffiti a train and a passing train travelling at 120 km/h (75 mph) collided with them.[123][124][125]
April 2016	Italy	Collision with train	Injured	21	A person received a fractured tibia and fibula in their right leg when they collided with a train. They were spraying graffiti on a wall beside railway tracks. They said that "A train has passed. We have seen it. ...we just had to cross two tracks. We haven't heard the other coming. It was behind us. It was raining".[126]
20 May 2016	Germany	Collision with train	Died	29	A person was spraying graffiti on technical equipment near train tracks when a freight train passed them, and the force from the suction of the freight train threw them against the side of the train, killing them instantly.[127][128][129][130]
3 October 2016	Germany	Collision with train	Died	18,19	Two people were hit by a train and killed; a bag with spray utensils and spray paint cans were found nearby.[129][131][132]
29 May 2017	Australia	Collision with train	Died	25	It was speculated that a person was spraying graffiti on a stationary train when they then ran across the tracks and was hit by a train. Spray paint cans were found close to their body.[133][134]
30 August 2017	Greece	Electric shock	Died	19	A person was at a train station where they wrote their tag on a train carriage, and whilst talking on the phone, they tripped over onto a live third rail that electrocuted them. Paramedics took them to hospital where they were pronounced dead.[135][136][137][138]
17 November 2017	Germany	Electric shock	Injured	26	A person was injured in a train marshalling yard; it was speculated that they were in the yard in relation to graffiti. They climbed on top of a stationary train carriage and received an electric shock, and were taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition.[139][140]
2 January 2018	France	Electric shock	Injured	21	A person went into a train marshalling yard and it is speculated that they went there to create graffiti on a freight carriage. They climbed onto a carriage and received an electric shock from the overhead power lines. A person who was with him contacted emergency services, and he was transported to a hospital that specializes in treating burn patients, where he remained in critical condition.[141]
January 2018	Portugal	Fall	Died	21	A person died when they were on the roof of a building intending to paint graffiti, and a skylight gave way under their weight and they fell seven metres (23 ft).[44]
18 June 2018	United Kingdom	Collision with train	Died	19, 23, 23	Three people were killed when it is thought they saw an oncoming train and then hid behind a wall so that they would be hidden from sight. In doing this, they put themselves in the path of a train and were struck by one. Spray paint cans were in close proximity to where their bodies were found.[142][143]
5 September 2018	Australia	Collision with train	Died	?	A person died when it is speculated that they were spraying a train with graffiti and they then moved backwards into the path of an oncoming train, and a collision occurred.[144][145]
4 December 2018	United Kingdom	Electric shock	Died	29	A person was on railway lines and it is speculated that they were creating graffiti, and they were killed after receiving an electric shock from overhead power lines.[146]
11 May 2019	Spain	Collision with car	Died	14	A teenager died after having painted graffiti next to a highway; they then travelled across two lanes of the highway and collided with a car.[147][148][149]
15 November 2019	United States	Fall	Died	28	A 28-year-old had been attempting to spray paint graffiti on a building when they fell through a metal awning and was killed.[150][151]
December 2019	Germany	Collision with train	Died	23	A person died after a passing train collided with them. It is speculated that they may not have heard the approaching train while spraying graffiti on a junction box.[152]
18 July 2020	Greece	Electric shock	Died	20	A person died when they were going across train lines and they were electrocuted. It is speculated that they were crossing lines while looking to create graffiti.[153][154]
4 November 2021	United States	Undetermined	Died	44	A person who is a graffiti artist and it is named "Lance De Los Reyes" and also known as "Rambo" has died. The cause of death is yet to be determined.[155]
20 April 2022	United States	Collision with train	Died	28, 34	As a train operator was arriving at a train station they saw two people lying dead beside a railway track. A 28-year-old and a 34-year-old had collided with a train when they had been attempting to create graffiti. They had spray paint cans on them when the collision with the train occurred.[156][157]
30 July 2023	United States	Collision with monorail	Died	14	A 14-year-old died when they were spray-painting graffiti on the side of a building next to a monorail track when a passing monorail collided with them.[158][159]
4 April 2024	Türkiye	Undetermined	Died	27	Burak Yurdakul, known especially for his murals in Kadiköy and nicknamed "Rakun", has passed away. It was announced by his friend on social media.[160]
9 May 2024	United States	Undetermined	Died	30	A person who is named "Joseph Steven Johnson" who is a graffiti painter in Tacoma and was also known for his tag, GRIDE, has reportedly died. The reason was not confirmed at this (or that) time.[161]
13 May 2024	United States	Gunshot	Died	14	A person was killed by a gunshot directly into the head in a park while spray painting over graffiti.[162]
25 July 2024	United States	Gunshot	Died	30	A person who is named "Jose Luis Guitierrez Calles" was shot and killed over a graffiti beef in Seattle according to his ex-wife.[163]
22 September 2024	India	Lung cancer	Died	41	Hanif Kureshi, an artist who went by the name "Daku" died due to him having lung cancer.[164]
10 February 2025	United States	Gunshot	Died	30	A man who was a graffiti person was shot and killed by a 43-year-old man and his 14-year-old son during the evening in Los Angeles.[165]
15 February 2025	Australia	Medical episode	Died	50	Mark Taylor, a street artist and a bodybuilder who also went by the name "MeatAXE" was driving his 5-year-old son to his birthday party when he suddenly suffered a medical episode and was rushed to a hospital, but then died a few hours later.[166]
13 April 2025	United States	Car crash	Died	35	It was determined that Danny Meza died in a car crash in San Diego. He was a tattoo and a graffiti artist.[167]
19 April 2025	United States	Illness	Died	36	Dont Fret who was an artist worker died due to an illness attacking him.[168]
22 May 2025	United Kingdom	Collision with car	Died	16, 17	Two teenagers died when a car and a motorbike collided with them on the Lower Broughton Road in Manchester.[169]

Gallery

• 
  Spray paint cans alongside railway tracks in Sydney, 2025
• 
  Melbourne, 2020
• 
  Graffiti on the side of a water tower, Melbourne, 2020
• 
  An abandoned tram depot in Sydney. Abandoned structures often have hazards such as unstable floors, roofs, walls and stray voltage. 2010

See also

• Lists portal

• Graffiti
• List of selfie-related injuries and deaths
• List of train-surfing injuries and deaths
• Rooftopping
• Street art
• Urban Exploration