Christopher Northam shot dead at Skim X sports centre
The founder of the Skim X sports centre, Christopher Northam, was found dead at his extreme sports centre, located at 8292 Industrial Avenue in Roseville, California, on Monday afternoon, May 30th.
Reportedly, the Roseville-based entrepreneur had gotten into an argument with someone on Monday, which had eventually led to Northam getting shot. The SWAT team, along with Roseville police officers, got to the site of incident after getting notified about
the argument and sound of gunshots that followed.
“During the call, the person on the phone line with us then heard three gunshots, at least three, maybe more gunshots inside the business,” Roseville Police Sgt. Daniel Wanamaker said.
Upon reaching the centre, the authorities found Northam dead and at least one gunshot wound was visible on the first examination of the body. More details will be known once the autopsy report is released. The suspect, however, had managed to escape by the
time the SWAT team and police had gotten inside the centre.
“We did do a search immediately around the facility including the fields and also with a helicopter to look for anyone that could have escaped or got out of the perimeter we had originally setup,” Wanamaker said. “Right now, we have no suspect information.”
The officers identified the incident as homicide and returned back to the centre with a search warrant on Tuesday. The investigation got underway as they began to conduct interviews of potential witnesses for any kind of information that may help them get
to the culprit and wrap up the case.
The spokesperson of the Roseville Police Department, Dee Dee Gunther, issued a statement, saying that there had been no arrests in connection with the incident that took place at the Skim X sports centre on Monday yet. However, the investigation is still
going on.
The 44-year-old Northam was the inventor of extreme sport, Extreme Skim, and had created the indoor Skim X sports centre water park solely for the new sport. He shared the ownership of the extreme sport facility with his two sons, Chris Junior and Codi.
The company was slowly expanding and the number of people working for the centre had climbed up to 20 by March.
Skim X involves hydroplaning down ramps on an apparatus similar to skis, snowboards and wakeboards.
Even though the sport was relatively new, Northam was actively working on promoting the sport and getting it more recognition. He was optimistic about the future of the sport, hoping to see it become a part Olympic sport one day. In order to work towards
his dream, he had planned on opening indoor and outdoor parks for the sport all around the world.
Unfortunately, Northam was unable to complete the mission that he had embarked on. Hopefully, the sons will continue to work towards their father’s vision for the sport.
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