'The Devil Wears Prada' Musician Who Survived Mass Shooting Killed Alongside His Agent in Fireball San Diego Plane Crash — Hours After Uploading Haunting Images from Cockpit
The Devils Wears Prada's former drummer Daniel Williams, right, died in a plane crash moments after posting the above eerie snap from the doomed craft's cockpit.
May 23 2025, Published 8:47 a.m. ET
The former drummer of rock band The Devil Wears Prada has been killed in a plane crash – moments after being pictured in the cockpit.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Daniel Williams, plus talent agent Dave Shapiro, died in a fireball crash in a San Diego neighborhood in the morning of Thursday, May 22.
Tragic Crash
The musician wrote 'here we go' before the plane took off from New Jersey.
The musician survived a near-death experience six years ago when he was caught in the crosshairs of a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, in which nine people were killed inside a bar.
The shooter, Connor Betts, was shot dead by law enforcement officers responding to the scene.
Following the attack, Williams revealed he had a lucky escape from the gunman.
His private Cessna plane crashed around 4am Pacific after Williams, who stepped away from music eight years ago, shared a picture of himself at the plane's controls.
A caption posted alongside the picture on Instagram read: "Here we gooooo."
Shortly before the flight took off, he also posted a picture tagging Shapiro, 42, who owned the plane and used to work with the Christian metal band Williams drummed in for years.
Williams, 39, posted another picture of the plane controls and wrote: "Hey. Hey… you… look at me … I’m the (co)pilot now."
The drummer documented his flight on Instagram in now poignant snaps before the tragic crash.
The Devil Wears Prada confirmed the deaths by posting a montage of pictures of both Williams and Shapiro on their Instagram late this afternoon.
They wrote: "No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever."
According to his X account, Williams recently announced that he had accepted a job with Apple on May 14.
He wrote: "I'm very excited to share that I’ve accepted a software engineering role at Apple.
"It's been really tough to say goodbye to my friends and colleagues of nearly eight years at GoPro, but it's time for my next chapter. It's time to help build the future."
Williams was seen boarding a Cessna 550 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey late Wednesday night.
Talent agent Dave Shapiro also perished in the fireball crash.
Tracking data showed the aircraft, with a tail number of N666DS, took off from the airport at 11:15 pm.
The Cessna then stopped for fuel in Wichita, Kansas, before continuing on to California.
Shapiro's death was confirmed by his talent agency, Sound Talent Group.
"We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues, and friends," said a spokesperson for STG.
"Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today's tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time."
At least two other STG employees died in the crash, it has been reported.
Aside from being a music agent, Shapiro was an avid pilot and flying instructor with 15 years of experience.
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The neighborhood in San Diego was decimated by the crash.
Terrance Coughlin, a music executive, also paid tribute, saying on X: "Rest in Peace Dave Shapiro, Daniel Williams, and everyone on that flight.
"Some of my very first shows were booked through Dave.
"I had a handful of shows with Daniel, always a pleasure to see him play. Gone way too soon."
The plane plummeted about two miles from its intended destination at San Diego's Montgomery-Gibbs Executive airport
The fiery crash set 15 homes and several cars ablaze in a neighborhood for military service members managed by Liberty Military Homes.
Eight others were injured when the plane plunged from the sky and crashed in heavy fog.
