The Slatest

Otto Warmbier Has Died

A sign in Otto Warmbier’s hometown of Wyoming, Ohio on June 15.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Otto Warmbier—the 22-year-old University of Virginia student who was in a coma when he was released from North Korean prison last week—has died, his family said in a statement:

It’s not yet clear what exactly happened in North Korea that caused Warmbier, who was arrested in January 2016 during a tour organized by a Chinese company and charged with attempting to steal a propaganda poster, to become so badly hurt. Per the New York Times, doctors at the University of Cincinnati believe he suffered a “catastrophic brain injury” sometime before April 2016 that was caused by “cardiopulmonary arrest.”