Todd Snider ‘Assault’ Determined to Be ‘Self-Inflicted Injury’, Police Say
For more information into the ongoing investigation about the death of Todd Snider, also see:
- Body Cam Video, Otis Gibbs Reveal New Clues in Todd Snider Death
- Further Details on the Todd Snider Assault, and Why His Band Left
- Many Questions Linger After the Death of Todd Snider
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More questions than answers persist about what happened to songwriter and performer Todd Snider while he was in Salt Lake City in early November, ultimately leading up to Snider’s death in a Nashville hospital on November 14th. But more details continue to be filled in as the investigation continues, or in this instance, the Salt Lake City Police Department closes out their investigation after coming to some conclusive determinations.
After reviewing surveillance footage from Todd Snider’s hotel and doing further investigating, the Salt Lake City Police Department has determined that the alleged assault on Todd Snider on October 31st was likely a self-induced injury suffered when Snider was alone on his tour bus and fell, hitting his head.
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Todd Snider was scheduled to perform a show at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake on November 1st, but the show never happened. Snider claimed he was assaulted the night before (Oct. 31st), though no evidence of an assault or further explanation about the assault had been given publicly either by Snider’s team, or the police in the area.
What can be confirmed is Todd Snider received multiple staples in the back of his head at a local LDS Intermountain hospital. Due to the injury, Snider’s November 1st Salt Lake show was cancelled, as was the entire Todd Snider tour.
Snider’s label/management Aimless Inc. said in a statement on November 3rd, “Todd sustained severe injuries as the victim of a violent assault outside of his hotel. Todd will be unable to perform for an undetermined amount of time.”
However, as Saving Country Music reported on November 18th, arguments over jurisdiction, and the lack of an investigation by local police left unanswered questions about the nature of the alleged assault against Todd Snider, whether there were any suspects being sought, whether any video surveillance was being reviewed, and what exactly happened.
What further confused the situation was how Todd Snider’s road manager initially called police about the alleged assault while at the music venue The Commonwealth Room that is in South Salt Lake, just over the dividing line with Salt Lake City proper where Snider’s hotel room was, and the assault allegedly happened. The two cities have two separate police departments, and both were unsure whose jurisdiction the alleged assault occurred in.
Saving Country Music has since been able to confirm that Todd Snider was staying at the Springhill Suites at 625 S 300 W, about 2.5 miles north of The Commonwealth Room in Salt Lake City proper. This is where the alleged assault was said to have occurred on Todd Snider’s tour bus parked in the hotel parking lot.
Also hindering the investigation, Todd Snider and his manager refused to work with police as they attempted to investigate the alleged assault. As South Salt Lake patrol officer Tanner Doria said in a police report from November 1st,
“After not being able to contact the manager by phone, I began to head to the hospital to gather victim information and gain more information about the incident. While en route to the hospital, the manager returned my phone call. I identified myself over the phone and was inquiring for more information about the incident. [The Manager] expressed that he didn’t know why I was calling and he said he only requested an ambulance and did not request police.
“I asked [The Manager] if he wanted to make a report further about the incident and he declined. This concluded my conversation with [The Manger]. He never provided me with the information of the party that was actually involved and insisted they did not want to speak to law enforcement.”
After Saving Country Music’s November 18th report about the confusion between the two Salt Lake police jurisdictions, the case was given another look by the Salt Lake City Police Department who discovered that a second manager for Todd Snider also called about the alleged assault. This second manager was not in Salt Lake City at the time, but contacted police after becoming concerned about Snider. Subsequently, Salt Lake City Police then pulled surveillance video from the hotel to see if any assault had been caught on tape.
After reviewing the surveillance video of the entire time Todd Snider was at the hotel, The Salt Lake City Police Department determined there was no assault on Todd Snider. Snider can be seen on the video footage going to and from the hotel to the tour bus, but is never accosted by anyone, and nobody enters the bus at the time the alleged assault would have occurred. According to police, at times in the video, Snider looks like he might be intoxicated and stumbling.
It’s the Salt Lake City Police Department’s determination that at some point while in the tour bus, Snider likely fell, and the injury to the back of the head was a self-induced accident. Snider might have believed he was assaulted after going unconscious, and waking up with blood from the head injury around him. This is likely the explanation for the assault characterization.
A report from the Salt Lake City Police Department reads,
“Video Surveillance was obtained from the hotel (both interior and exterior video). Todd snider was observed walking from the tour bus to the hotel at approximately 6:50 PM on 10/31/25 and returning to the tour bus at approximately 7:46 PM on 10/31/25. Upon his return to the tour bus, Todd did not appear to have any injuries. A witness (hotel staff) had a brief interaction with Todd as he passed through the lobby and also reported that Todd was not injured at that time.
“After Todd was observed entering the tour bus, he did not leave the bus and had no person entered or exited the bus until approximately 8:46 PM where band members were observed making contact with Todd at the door of the bus (see log below). After the brief interaction with the band members, the door is closed and Todd remained on the tour bus for the duration of the night with no other persons entering or exiting the tour bus.
“It is believed the incident occurred on the tour bus between the hours of 7:46 PM and 8:50 PM. There was no evidence of an assault occurring in the hotel parking lot and no persons entering the tour bus after Todd entered the bus at 7:46 PM. There was confirmed to be no video surveillance on the tour bus (interior or exterior) which could have captured the incident.“
Below are the notes from the review of the video surveillance footage from the hotel.
The report also includes an account from a female member of Todd’s band, saying “…she had left the night of the incident (10/31) for dinner with the group at approximately 6:45 PM from the tour bus. According to [band member], when they all left for dinner, they saw Todd Snider on the bust and he was fine. Todd opted to stay back and did not attend dinner with the group.”
“According to [band member], she returned to the hotel just before 9:00 PM where she brought food out to Todd on the bus. She opened the bus door and took only one step inside the bus where she observed Todd without any clothing on below the waist. Todd was yelling out (she believes in pain but she did not observe any injuries) and appeared to be in some sort of distress. Upon seeing this, she immediately reported what she had seen to [redacted].”
A second report from a female band member states, “She walked over to the bus and stood at the door as she opened it. According to [her], she stated Todd was inside the bus asleep/passed out and was unclothed from the waist down and his pants were lying on the top of the bus steps. She described she observed soap and paper towels in a pile on a lower step (below his pants). She stated she did not see any blood or injuries on Todd at that time, but she only observed this from the outside of the bus. According to [her], she immediately went to speak with [tour manager] to report what she had seen.”
The Salt Lake City Police report goes on to say,
“Upon completing numerous interviews with witnesses (band members, tour manager, nephew, hotel employees), it was discovered that Todd Snider may have been under the influence of both drugs and alcohol on the night of the incident (unconfirmed what substances). The video surveillance of Todd walking through the parking lot showed him staggering and swaying before entering the door of the tour bus.
“Numerous attempts were made to contact Todd directly, but due to his medical condition he was unable to provide a statement directly to police. The only statements received by police were provided through a 3rd party who relayed information given to them by Todd.”
“Todd Snider passed away in Nashville, TN on 11/14 from reported complications due to pneumonia and also sepsis. In speaking with family members, it was determined an autopsy would not be completed on Todd. At this time, the cause of death reported by his family was pneumonia/sepsis. It does not appear the injuries sustained by Todd in Salt Lake City on 10/31/25 were related to his death.”
The report concludes, “At this time, we are unable to confirm that an assault occurred on the tour bus. Due to all the reported actions above, it is likely that Todd may have fallen on the tour bus and struck his head causing the injury. A warrant was obtained for medical records from LDS which detail the reported injuries.”
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The report from the Salt Lake City Police Department also describes the interaction between the Salt Lake City Police, and the out-of-town manager for Todd Snider who called Salt Lake City police about the alleged assault, and led to the investigation. It fills in further gaps in the timeline of October 31st leading up to Todd Snider’s injury.
“[Manager #2] said Todd was supposedly injured by a glass bottle, having heard that the physician at the hospital had removed broken glass from Todd’s scalp. [Manager #2] also said Todd received a concussion due to the injury to his head. [Manager #2] believed Todd had been at dinner with his band-mates and speculates he may have left them after dinner and had been assaulted during that time.”
The report continues, “[Manager #2] said Todd somehow boarded the band’s tour bus which had been parked in the hotel parking lot and slept there overnight (since he was located on the bus the following morning). At that time, it was discovered that Todd had been assaulted, his head bloodied, and EMS responded to the location of the bus where Todd was attended to, and subsequently transported to LDS [Intermountain] Hospital. At LDS hospital he had received several staples in his head and was released later that day.”
The second look investigation and determinations by the Salt Lake City Police Department seem to explain the head injury that Todd Snider suffered on October 31st, and dispel the idea that he was the victim of an assault, at least in their estimation.
However, many question remain about what happened afterwards when the tour was cancelled. Snider ended up interacting with police again on November 2nd 245 S. State Street at about 3:40 pm. This is when he was likely transported via ambulance to the Holy Cross hospital where Snider was ultimately arrested while attempting to seek treatment.
Saving Country Music has also learned from multiple sources that Todd Snider was supposed to return to Nashville shortly after the cancellation of the show at The Commonwealth Room on November 1st and secured a plane ticket. However, after boarding the plane and before the plane departed, Snider left the plane and his road manager behind. This is when he ended up on the streets of Salt Lake City, and ultimately at the Holy Cross hospital where he was arrested. Snider was released from the jail on November 3rd. It is currently unclear when he returned to Nashville.
Saving Country Music has reached out to representatives of the Todd Snider estate looking for information and clarification on what happened to Todd Snider in key moments, but those emails have yet to be returned. With the family determining to not conduct an autopsy, key clues of what happened to Todd Snider in his final days might not ever be known.
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Saving Country Music’s investigation into the death of Todd Snider is ongoing. Anyone with further information can reach out via Saving Country Music’s Contact Page.
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Editor’s note: The accounts from the female band members were added to this story after initial publication. Also the term “self-inflicted” was put in quotes in the title to reflect this was a quotation from a police officer in the Salt Lake City Police Department, not an opinion expressed by Saving Country Music.
November 20, 2025 @ 7:16 pm
Interesting. At the beginning, I posted that I did not care if the truth never comes out. It seemed to me that Snider was having a mental health breakdown (possibly connected to substance abuse), at the very least, and I was hioping he’d get treatment and pull himself back togehter.
Snider’s death changed all that, and it’s necessary to get to the bottom of it because law enforcement and medical personnel are being accused in various quaters of being responsible for Snider’s demise.
I STILL feel like the doctors at the Salt Lake City hospital should have re-admitted Snider when he came back after being dishcarged, rather than calling the police and having him arrested. But no prosecutor is going to make a criminal case over that and (assuming that the lates police revelations are true), I don’t think his heirs have a viable lawsuit.
The first reports spoke of Snider being assaulted once. Later reports had him being assaulted twice–in different locations. That’s something of a red flag: It seems to indicate that he gave conflicting accounts in different interviews and the only way to have them was to say there were two separate occurrences.
I don’t deem this a pure hoax. In pure hoaxes–like the Tawana Brawley affair in New York State a generation ago or the more recent Jussey Smollet case in Chicago, and incidents at various universities–there are usually initial reports “hate crime” and a brutally injured victim, but later disclosure shows that the “injuries” were largely theatrical. (The Brawley case got national coverage from the get-go because the initial reports were that the group of assailants “carved” the n-word into her chest or belly It turned out that the word had been written on her skin with some sort of charcoal, came right off when she was given a wash.)
In Snider’s case he really WAS injured and required surgical staples in his head. I’ll even give him the benefit of the doubt, as offered by the police, and believe that when he came to, after being bruised and bloodied, he really did beleive that he had been attacked.
November 21, 2025 @ 6:31 am
Confused. So, several band members and the tour manager found him laying on floor of bus apparently in distress that night and did nothing? They didn’t call police/ambulance until the next day?
November 21, 2025 @ 8:34 am
He had glass embedded in his head and it was bleeding, That would seem to be an obvious injury when several people checked on him.
“Todd was yelling out and appeared to be in some sort of distress. Upon seeing this, she immediately reported what she had seen to [redacted].”
Who is redacted and why didn’t anyone show concern for him? They just left him in the bus until the next morning. I don’t care if he was drinking or on drugs, it sounded like he needed help and several people checked on him but did nothing.
Also, if Todd thought he was too sick to fly back home and needed to be in the hospital, the manager should have gotten off the plane as well to make sure he got help. They could have at least called the cops or hospital to provide information about Todd’s injuries and mental state. I would think this is the very least they could do, and the job of a manager.
November 21, 2025 @ 3:46 pm
Wasn’t the manager in Nashville? I mean the band left him ALL ALONE.
November 24, 2025 @ 9:07 am
There was a road manager present who apparently left – or was left by Todd – at some point.
November 21, 2025 @ 11:27 am
Maybe it wasn’t unsual for him?
November 22, 2025 @ 2:11 am
One of the tunes he performed is “Enjoy Yourself It’s Later Than You Think”
No one knows when we turn a corner like Todd did in Salt Lake and – until the advent of cell phones – we never got to be witness to it like this.
My own hunch is that at 59 – his physical back problems – riding on the bus …
…he may have overdone his meds trying to cope and lord knows, that can be the genisis of an avalanche if you’re pre-disposed… Life is precarious and fragile so let us not talk falsely now…
November 21, 2025 @ 6:50 am
Definitely has whiffs of Jussie Smollet. I actually think if he had been honest about his situation, he would’ve engendered more sympathy and may have had a better outcome.
November 21, 2025 @ 9:22 am
No, it does not at all have whiffs of Jussie Smollet. GFY
November 21, 2025 @ 3:47 pm
FU asshole.
November 21, 2025 @ 2:45 pm
Self-inflicted is not remotely the same as accidental. Self-inflicted implies you chose to hurt yourself. Your reporting does not suggest that Todd intentionally smacked his own head open.
You should fix your headline.
November 21, 2025 @ 2:57 pm
“Self-inflicted” was a term an officer at the Salt Lake City Police Department used to me while speaking with them about this matter. For the record, we don’t know what happened. Todd Snider might have fallen accidentally. Todd Snider might have intentionally hurt himself. I’m not saying that he did. But with the revelations of glass potentially being in the wound, of Snider cleaning up some sort of mess he made for himself, we don’t really know what was going on in that tour bus.
The term “self-inflicted” was used to imply it is unlikely or impossible someone else harmed Todd Snider, according to the investigation.
November 22, 2025 @ 6:12 am
The cop’s not a writer. You should put it in quotes as you did in your reply here if you’re saying it is a quote, because it infers an intent to deliberately self harm as explained above.
November 22, 2025 @ 8:24 am
The police officer who used that characterization was speaking to me on “background,” meaning not for direct quote. I agree that words matter, and I respect if people disagree with the use of that term here. I understand that perspective. But I don’t know that Todd Snider was on drugs and alcohol when he was in the bus. He very well might have been off his meds, resulting in the erratic behavior. I also don’t know if he fell, was acting erratically and injured himself accidentally, or if it was some sort of intentional injury Snider did to himself. All that I know is that according to the police, the injury did not come from someone else. That is what is trying to be conveyed.
November 24, 2025 @ 9:18 am
By describing it as self-inflicted it means that the wound was the result of something he did as, rather than something that randomly happened.
If I use a utility knife to cut a box open and it slips and I cut my hand, that’s a self-inflicted wound even though I didn’t intend to cut my hand open.
January 10, 2026 @ 10:50 am
My impression is that addiction reared its ugly head and Todd was losing control over the beast. He likely was unbearable to be around and could have reacted with animus with any overture to help him. I have seen this with drunks. They just get belligerent, and you just decide to leave them alone. Then, while alone, something bad happens. There is still resistance to assist. And so it goes downhill. This is largely supposition based on experience, and I could be way wrong. But the pattern fits. I never cared for his music or other, but I sure didn’t want him to go out this way. He was really loved by a lot of fans, friends, and family. It is sad.
November 20, 2025 @ 8:05 pm
How did Todd make it home?
November 20, 2025 @ 8:46 pm
Unfortunately, I can’t confirm any information about this. He was released from jail on November 3rd, and I believe flew home to Nashville at some point afterwards.
November 20, 2025 @ 11:53 pm
I am seeing a local news outlet out of Salt Lake City, KSL.com saying that Todd Snider boarded a plane for Nashville on November 3rd. But I’m not sure where they got that information, and I have been unable to confirm it. This would make sense though, because the timeline of Todd’s experiences in Salt Lake City ends on November 3rd.
November 20, 2025 @ 8:17 pm
He had said he remembered blood in the bus .
Why did he leave the plane?
He was complaining of pain and shortness of breath . Nothing was done at the hospital .
Apparently nothing was medically done at the jail .
He could have already been experiencing pneumonia symptoms . Two things can be true at the same time.
Why did he wait to be basically told to go to an ER by his friend days after he got home ?
I think the hospital that turned him away still has some explaining to do though – he should have been triaged at least .
November 21, 2025 @ 6:54 am
To speak on the side of the hospital (not officially whatsoever-this is my opinion), I’m sure they deal with countless people trying to get “treatment” (i.e. pain killers) for things again and again. Notice how it was reported he went to at least a couple of hospitals complaining of pain (not doubting him). But they must deal with that all the time. And if he was treated and released the first time, they have to assume (in our day and age) that he wasn’t really in need.
Hate to say it, but the way people are trying to game the system these days and the way drugs have taken over so many, in the end while one should hope the hospital would be more concerned, they have to view things in real time and their past experiences.
November 21, 2025 @ 8:43 am
He had a known head injury that was treated at the hospital so it’s not as if he was some random homeless person seeking drugs.
Hospital staff are trained to recognize when someone presents themselves erratically as it could be an injury or an illness. They should have immediately realized this was a concussion and at least had him sit down for a bit under observation. When he said he needed his prescriptions, they would normally know that he was suffering withdrawal from both medications, which is a serious situation.
The cops should have checked into previous reports, and called the manager to get him some help. They had the phone number of the manager when they called earlier. They could have helped him use his card to get a hotel room.
It feels like several comments are trying to blame Todd and explain away serious problems and unprofessional behavior of everyone who is supposed to be a support system.
November 22, 2025 @ 9:35 am
Yes…Todd said he had been assaulted, I believe Todd.In my opinion there was absolute negligence in regards to people who are out there doing jobs that are supposed to assist and help others (nurses, police officers, even band members, and managers too) Why did everyone turn their backs and treat him like a no good scoundrel? The security guards were insulting to him by the sounds of it I’m sure, and he obviously was in DESPERATE need of help. If they had even looked into the info Todd waa telling them in his disturbed state, (which im sure escalated when he was being shunned , ignored and not attended too. At thus point he had already been thru so much.He clearly stated, had had told them, “I need my medicine ” and ” I’m in pain, I have so much pain, my back my neck, my head,” anyone could see her needed help. His honesty in stating he needed a place to sleep..may have hurt him , but what kind of system do we have in America, that puts needy people out if a hospital room, when they really darn well need it. Not to inflame an already heated discussion of this, but I am crushed that Todd, who yes may have suffered from some addictions in the past , was desperately reaching out for someone to care. He was always caring about others…the underdogs, ruffians , lost and disillusioned and unheard.The meds he was on were not opioids or addictive , but going off of them abruptly is dangerous and can cause anxiety and distress.It all crushes me and breaks my heart that he had to go the way he did, after being a champion of others.
January 10, 2026 @ 10:57 am
To me, at the end, the cause of the injury is not relevant. If he were, and facts indicate otherwise, assaulted, that only means a violent offender is loose. The injury remains the same. If during treatment of his head wound he was incoherent and belligerent, yes, the staff probably wanted to get rid of him as quick as possible. But what is still unclear, is if the injury played a part in his death. I think he had relapsed and his immune system was down. Pneumonia can be lethal. I have almost lost family members. I know of one that had it and the Dr. mentioned if he had waited a couple of more days he would likely have died. There is a newer antibiotic for it, but it has to be started in time. The symptoms can be somewhat mild or ignored until too late. That’s about all I can think of.
November 24, 2025 @ 10:50 pm
I can say a big city hospital does indeed deal with drug seeking patients – that’s one thing.
However, when inebriated patients arrive, they are still evaluated and treated, especially if they are injured. A head injury is a headache injury is serious business, wheter from a drunken fight, fall or accident. It usually ends up with an MRI and observation if there’s a concussion.
And from a hospital point of view its is a liability issue – inadequate treatment or death is a lawsuit and a damaged reputation.
After the agony of the opioid crisis, hospitals have become more acute in their screenings and more careful in their use of pain killers.
So that doesn’t wash, at least here in NYC, with the largest (and one of the busiest) public health system in the country and with some of the greatest private hospitals in the world, mostly non profit and by charter treating everyone. (And all having behavioral health mechanisms and offerings in addiction setvicrs).
If anything this tragedy is a eye-opening look at healthcare abd policing in other markets.
November 20, 2025 @ 8:38 pm
Thanks for continuing to dig into this story. I can’t say I’m totally surprised about the nature of the head injury, but I wonder how Todd was able to get off the plane without his manager. Was the manager seated in a different location on the plane and unaware he departed the plane?
November 21, 2025 @ 8:22 am
Unfortunately, I do not have that information at this time. However, I do think the detail that Todd had a ticket back to Nashville, was on the plane, and then de-boarded is an important detail to the folks who say his band just left him in Salt Lake City alone. The tour was cancelled. Everyone was sent home. Provisions were made to get Todd Snider to Nashville, and Todd jumped ship. That is why he was in Salt Lake City alone, which ultimately became a recipe for disaster. I don’t know what was done when Todd was leaving the plane, or after. But since Snider did not have a cell phone, keeping up with him would have been difficult to impossible. I’m also told Todd hated to fly, similar to cell phones. He preferred to travel by bus. He might have also been worried about pressurization and altitude on the plane flight due to his injury.
November 21, 2025 @ 8:48 am
Why did they leave with his bus and medications as he was injured in a hospital?
It is dangerous to fly after an injury. He might have had a blood clot.
They knew he preferred to drive, so why take his bus home without him?
November 21, 2025 @ 11:57 am
Thanks again for continuing to look into this. According to the article linked below:
“Todd was supposed to have returned to Nashville (on Nov. 2) but was still in some pain at the Salt Lake City International Airport, therefore EMS were called and responded there to medically evaluate him. Todd was transported to another Salt Lake area hospital,” the report states.”
So it doesn’t sound like he snuck off the plane without the manager knowing. And if that statement is accurate, it’s not clear if he even made it onto the plane. A tragic sequence of events, and we will likely never know all the details.
https://www.ksl.com/article/51408622/salt-lake-police-find-no-evidence-that-musician-todd-snider-was-assaulted
November 21, 2025 @ 12:16 pm
I certainly do not want to characterize it that Todd Snider “snuck off” the plane. Maybe he did, but like you said, maybe he never even boarded. I heard from numerous folks that say he did board the plane and was in his seat at some point, but they could be incorrect.
I think the most important point to understand was that Todd was at the airport with a ticket, even potentially on the plane, but ended up not flying back to Nashville. It was after this when the whole episode with the hospitals and police ensued. There was definitely an effort to get Todd back to Nashville. He was not simply abandoned by everyone with no way back home. His road manager was with him at some point at the airport. But that effort was not successful for whatever reason.
I did see that report from KSL and referenced it in another comment. I have been unable to verify that information you quoted, but since they’re a local source, they probably have better access to some of that info. This all sounds similar to stuff I have been told, though my understanding was Snider secured his own transportation from the airport (taxi/Uber maybe) to the hospital, was admitted, discharged, and then ended up on the street in Salt Lake, then in an ambulance being transported to the Holy Cross hospital where he was arrested.
November 21, 2025 @ 1:28 pm
To clarify, the thought that Todd “snuck off the plane” was my own attempt to rationalize how the manager apparently came back to Nashville without Todd. I didn’t intend to suggest that you had characterized it that way, and apologies if it came across that way. As others have said, in hindsight it’s apparent Todd never should’ve gone on this tour, but it sounds like he wanted one last hurrah: “I told my team that I want this tour to be the funnest one. I at least want to do it one more time.”
It also doesn’t sound like waiting to tour later was an option Todd considered:
“I wouldn’t say I’m better, and I don’t think I’m going to get better, but the last decade was hard in my personal life. In the last couple of years, it’s gotten harder, and I felt like the title. I sat out here by myself and had, like, a dark night of the soul.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/todd-snider-pain-high-lonesome-and-then-some-1235449429/
November 20, 2025 @ 9:26 pm
I’m hoping that a review of the last show he played in Englewood, Co gets published somewhere, what was the last song he played? Also, I listened to his last record top to bottom. Some Lyrics from the last song, The Temptation to Exist
You’ve got to live a little
People die a lot
They do
Look it up (I laughed at this)
You’ve got to live a little
People die alot
Can’t be that hard, shit
Everybody does it (again I’m laughing)
This guy was great. Todd Snider ruled.
November 20, 2025 @ 9:59 pm
they’ve got the whole setlist logged on setlist.fm:
Set 1:
1. Doublewide Blues
2. The Get Together
3. Is This Thing Working?
4. Older Women
5. Dividing the Estate (A Heart Attack)
6. It Runs Together (HWA)
7. Handsome John
8. Never Let a Day Go By
Set 2:
9. High, Lonesome and Then Some
10. Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never Be the Same)
11. Looking for a Job
12. That Ain’t Flying
13. In Between Jobs
14. That Great Pacific Garbage Patch
15. Alright Guy
16. Unforgivable (Worst Story Ever Told)
17. Stoner Yodel #2
18. Stuck on the Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)
19. Play a Train Song
20. I Can’t Complain
21. Just Like Overnight
Encore:
22. Like a Force of Nature
23. Juice
a few videos on youtube too. wish id have been able to see him play. one of the very best
November 20, 2025 @ 9:34 pm
I will preface this again..,I am a fan of Todd Snider and write this from Rockaway Beach Oregon (Tillamook County) for those that know. The man should have never been allowed to go on this tour!!! From the beginning it seemed clear that he was in a bad way due to substances he was using. The assault made no sense, the band departing made no sense, the need for secondary care two days after the “assault” made no sense, his departing his flight makes no sense.
Many are pissed off at the SLC hospital staff, I won’t argue against that. However the man was clearly not able to be on tour! Did he stop his meds causing delirium? Was he taking other pain meds, alcohol or whatever….I won’t speculate, but one thing is clear…,the man was in a bad enough state that he should never have been traveling an no way should have been trying to perform. To try this in his state was a recipe for disaster. I expect the band mates and tour manager will have their say relatively soon. They need to speak out as they seem to be the last “friends” he had around him during the crisis which contributed to his early death!
November 21, 2025 @ 11:07 am
But you ARE speculating.
November 21, 2025 @ 12:19 pm
Of course I am speculating, everyone commenting on this is speculating because we have very little information from the people he was with. The man is dead and that is a tragedy. My point is that this is a situation in which someone close to him should have pressed him to not go out on the road. Multiple issues contributed to the disaster which happened in SLC and led to his death. I do not buy the story that he was assaulted by a random stranger. His bandmates, who quickly left the scene, have not spoken and his “Tour manager” has only given small bits of information. This is not just a clear cut situation in which a man was randomly assaulted and was refused care. Todd was not in a good mental and physical state to be on the road!
I’ve been a fan since the 90’s when I first heard him, have seen him a couple times, the last at the Portland Zoo where he put on a great show. The man had tremendous talent! I also see that someone put “Todd Snider Rules” in the Vista Ridge Tunnel…for those that know. It just f’ing sucks that he has passed away. To reiterate my point…the man was in an unstable state and I only wish someone had stopped him from going on the road or at least had him agree to have someone watch over him. At the very least his “tour manager,” should have taken some responsibility to make sure he had his medication so that he did not go into a delirious state and once injured should have been by his side 24/7. When he left the plane, his manager should have left with him, gone with him to the hospital and get him checked in because clearly Todd was not able to do it himself. He could have at least booked a hotel and given him a place to crash and then evaluate him after some rest. This just sucks. The hospital should have done better, but those around him should have helped him get the care he obviously needed!
January 16, 2026 @ 10:07 pm
How do you know what his mental state was immediately prior to the tour?
November 20, 2025 @ 10:31 pm
I’m not sure I’d call it a “self-inflicted” injury. That makes it sound intentional, and none of this has suggested it was intentional. Just an accident.
Also, what’s with those 3-4 people who opened the bus door but didn’t go in, supposedly after the injury occurred? It also seems the that, knowing he was injured, they drove to the Commonwealth Room then called for an ambulance from there. I would have thought they would have sought help while still at the hotel.
November 20, 2025 @ 11:56 pm
I just added accounts from the female members of the band to the story from the police report, just below the graphic of the surveillance video analysis. Apparently they were delivering food to Snider and checking on him. Apparently Snider was, let’s just say, acting strangely, including being loud and sounding like he was in pain according to one. But they did not enter the bus, and said he didn’t look injured.
November 21, 2025 @ 3:08 am
I have no way of know this, and I don’t know if anyone does…. But was Todd immuno compromised? It seems strange that walking pneumonia killed him. And that is something that is often what kills people with underlying immuno issues such as end stage hepatitis and aids.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:55 am
No reason to believe Todd Snider was immuno compromised, unless it was undiagnosed. We don’t have his whole health picture, but we’ve seen quite a bit of it and that never came up. And since it appears no autopsy will be done, we’re unlikely to know Todd’s underlying health state if/when he contracted pneumonia.
November 21, 2025 @ 9:41 am
For what it’s worth, an untreated bacterial infection can turn into sepsis pretty quickly. Someone doesn’t have to have a compromised immune system for that to happen.
November 21, 2025 @ 11:30 am
I have seen this personally, very recently, with my own father. (Fortunately, he’s doing better, but got very sick.)
November 21, 2025 @ 2:10 pm
I went through it with my husband, too, and he pulled through. I’m glad your father is doing better.
November 21, 2025 @ 6:48 am
BTW, props to you Trigger for reporting this fully. The story that’s coming together is frankly not very flattering to Todd Snider, so Trigger could’ve easily just buried the story, or continued to stoke some of the chatter about ‘police negligence’ or ‘callous health care workers’. At the end of the day, in my experience, the majority of people in law enforcement are doing their best with whatever the circumstances happen to be, and the individuals within our broken health care system are generally doing the same (although it is amazing how just one shithead individual in either law enforcement or a health care setting can ruin the whole thing). I guess I have some amount of sympathy for Snider, but then again, I’d challenge anywhere here going to the mat to defend the guy to go get wasted on drugs and alcohol, then expose yourself to your female coworkers and see how that goes for you. He was a victim in the sense that there were a group of people around him enabling (and profiting) off of his bad behavior, but at what point are you no longer responsible for your own actions? It’s a shitty story in every respect.
Again, mad props to you Trigger for following through all the way.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:22 am
Reading Trigger’s article didn’t make it seem that Snider had purposefully exposed himself to women in his band. Getting undressed and passing out partway through is not the same as pulling off your pants and waving your dick around in front of women on purpose.
November 21, 2025 @ 11:54 am
To add to this, spinal stenosis can make a simple matter of getting your damn pants and underwear on a painful ordeal, even if you’re properly medicated. Doesn’t seem like it was an intentional exposure.
November 21, 2025 @ 8:35 am
I will say this about the Salt Lake City Police Department. All of the information contained in this article was sitting in a file for over three weeks. When the tour was initially canceled and the statement went out on November 3rd that Todd Snider was the victim of a “violent assault,” I was basically in constant contact with Salt Lake City police. They were emphatic that there was no assault, no assault investigation, they had nothing to do with any of this, and it all happened in the jurisdiction of South Salt Lake. Meanwhile, South Salt Lake Police told me there had been an investigation into the alleged assault, it happened in Salt Lake City jurisdiction, and they didn’t know why the press was being told otherwise.
I do give credit to the Salt Lake City Police Department for eventually getting the right hand to talk to the left hand, and releasing this information. But we should have had all of this weeks ago, and it might have affected how everything else unfolded subsequently. More alarm might have been sounded about Todd Snider’s state. No to toot a horn, but I do think my article on November 18th basically presenting the conflicting accounts by the two police departments is what had Salt Lake City get their act together and admit that yes, there was an in-depth investigation into the assault, including interviews with witnesses, analysis of surveillance footage, etc.
None of this changes the eventual outcome for Todd Snider. But this is why transparency is important. And frankly, there were details in here I did not want to share with the public. But when you try to hide the reality of things, when the truth is revealed, it often is even more ugly.
November 21, 2025 @ 11:50 am
He’s dead now. Nobody cares about whether you feel like he behaved in a way that is worthy of your sympathy. He made great art and he died tragically. A lot of personal demons were responsible for both of those things, and we’ll never know the extent of them. In the meantime, go toss your sanctimony at a rolling donut.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:11 am
Too bad Snider didn’t receive help for his obvious mental health issues,as his family,loved ones and fans lost a talented artist.RIP,Todd!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 21, 2025 @ 7:13 am
As someone on the periphery of this situation (aware of Todd and his music but never been a big listener. To be fair, I haven’t “dove in” to his discography at any point but may do so in the near future), I am honestly coming to the conclusion that the less we know, the better. There doesn’t appear to be a definitive person or entity at fault and the more details that come to light, the messier it gets. At this point, I probably won’t read any further details. May Todd Snider rest in peace.
November 21, 2025 @ 9:29 am
This whole situation didn’t need to unfold like this. Details included in this report and others didn’t need to come out publicly, and only did due to the vacuum of information, and a lack of transparency. As other’s said, Todd Snider probably should have never even gone out on tour. That might have been the ultimate, fatal mistake. But it is important we learn from these mistakes so they’re not repeated again.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:18 am
Thanks again for all your hard work, Trigger. This story just continues to be so heartbreaking with every new element coming out. I wish Todd had gotten the help he needed, not just in Salt Lake, but with everything. He didn’t deserve to go out like this.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:42 am
This information paints a lot of the missing picture and lays most of the responsibility on Snider himself and unfortunate happenstance.
You still have to wonder how and why Snider slipped off that initial flight home.
As, others have pointed out though, Snider was clearly in no shape to ever begin a tour; but, it was his livelihood. He probably had to.
It’ll go down as another sad tale of a creative artist ultimately succumbing to the inner demons that simultaneously fueled their artistry and caused their demise.
November 21, 2025 @ 8:20 am
Now I’m sadder than ever. Poor Todd – he always came across onstage as utterly without pretense, and yet this was an illusion. It’s bleak to realize how he was suffering for his art.
November 21, 2025 @ 8:48 am
Why did his team issue a statement that Todd was brutally attacked?
How do we know he wasn’t? It would explain the bobbing and weaving on his way to the bus. If there are theorizing he was high on alcohol/drugs, when did he consumer those? That wasn’t on the video just as the alleged assault wasn’t, and could each of happened off camera in the same timeframe.
Why didn’t take so long for Todd’s team to get him medical help?
Still a lot of things that don’t make much sense.
November 21, 2025 @ 9:42 am
The theory by the Salt Lake City Department that drugs and alcohol were involved is just that: a theory. They give no evidence. For all we know, the issue was that Todd Snider needed to be on certain prescribed drugs and wasn’t, resulting in the erratic behavior and injury. I think we all need to understand that when digesting this information.
I have no doubt that Todd Snider thought he’d been attacked. He said as much in the body camera footage, and there was no reason for management not to believe him, at least initially. But when Aimless, Inc. released the statement on the afternoon of November 3rd that the tour had been cancelled due to the “violent assault”—over 48 hours after they discovered Todd injured—there at least had to be some suspicion, if not preliminary findings from the police, that indicated an assault might not have occurred.
All of this is Monday morning quarterbacking though. Todd was missing, Todd was sick and injured, off his meds with no cell phone, and Todd had been arrested. It was a huge mess.
November 21, 2025 @ 10:35 am
I am appreciative of the expertly detailed reporting on these sad/tragic events by SCM over the past week. Have definitely been thinking of Todd since this all made news. When his death was confirmed, I did a deep dive on YouTube to revisit his epic stories. Todd was a great songwriter and equally adept at story telling.
Last night I saw Hayes Carll and his crack band play in Milwaukee. Great show. The highlight was when they played “Play A Train Song”. Hayes sounded eerily like Todd and it was touching, emotional and wildly received.
I don’t know what else to add other than Trigger, hope you and the SCM readers have a great weekend and Thanksgiving. As Hayes sang last night “So thank God/For good people/Thank people/For being kind,/I thank you/For doing your thing/And thank me/For doing mine.
November 21, 2025 @ 10:37 am
Why was he on a plane on Nov 3rd and not traveling home on his tour bus?
November 21, 2025 @ 12:02 pm
Todd Snider was on a plane on November 3rd, because he was on a plane on November 1st headed for Nashville, and left the plane shortly before departure. I have not been able to confirm Todd left Salt Lake on November 3rd, but I believe that’s likely. I do not know if the tour bus was Nashville-based and if it came out from Nashville and returned to Nashville after the tour was cancelled. But the band and the bus all left Salt Lake City on November 1st because the tour had been cancelled.
I do hope for more clarity on what happened November 3rd and beyond after Snider was released from jail. Right now, I’m unable to confirm anything. Queries have been sent to Snider’s management and others.
November 21, 2025 @ 10:55 am
Whatever happened, it is all very sad.
November 21, 2025 @ 11:38 am
The biggest, most over the top movie style bar fight I was ever involved in was started by a friend of mine. He was EXTREMELY drunk – as we all were all the time back then. He had stood up on the bar foot rail to yell to the bartender, slipped, and smacked his face on the bar – hard – knocking a tooth out. In this dude’s mind he did not even register that happening.
He immediately turns and punches some random dude next to him – thinking that dude had punched him and knocked his tooth out. Then everything just went crazy. Everyone punching everyone, chairs, stools, and glasses flying. By the time it was over the bar was completely destroyed, gallons of blood on the floor, and most of (including me…thanks again Jim…my toothless buddy…) were in handcuffs.
This was over 30 years ago, and TO THIS DAY he swears someone punched him and knocked his tooth out. Even though several of us saw what actually happened, he 100% can not register that actually happening in his mind.
November 21, 2025 @ 1:32 pm
My dad abused codeine for the last 25 years of his life. Now and again he inflicted injuries on himself to get some prescription fix.
That’s how it is with a lot of drugheads.
November 21, 2025 @ 2:09 pm
This could shed some light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZldHLupe0Q
Otis notes that Todd had chronic back problems. At 6:26, Otis notes that in the body cam video, Todd says he needs his meds, and he cites Baclofen, a muscle relaxer that carries warnings not to stop taking it abruptly. Not having it could have contributed. Sad to say, but we’ll never know. (Baclofen also has off-label uses for conditions ranging from hiccups to alcoholism.)
November 21, 2025 @ 2:18 pm
Trigger, you deserve a Pulitzer Prize for your reporting on this sad, tragic mess. Thank you for caring enough to investigate as you have. It’s been almost a week, and I still feel so sad about what happened and frustrated that Todd didn’t get the help that he needed, even from himself. Everyone be kind to each other.
November 21, 2025 @ 2:55 pm
From the article
https://www.ksl.com/article/51408622/salt-lake-police-find-no-evidence-that-musician-todd-snider-was-assaulted
Snider’s manager speculated to police that “Todd must have left the hotel to go make a purchase at a convenience store, some water and something to eat. He noted Todd does not drink and would not have walked to the liquor store. (He) did not believe the incident took place on the bus as he stated there did not appear to be any indications of a fight or disturbance on board, and no broken glass or instruments that may have been used in the assault,”
He had glass in his head wound and no glass on the bus…then logic would indicate he didn’t just fall and hurt himself on the bus
November 21, 2025 @ 3:57 pm
Just to clarify, this is coming from Snider’s management that was not on the ground in Salt Lake City, so not the road manager who was with the band. I saw this in the police report I obtained, but it’s sort of superseded by the surveillance video, and the accounts from witnesses. As the report says, it’s “speculation” by the manager who heard about the assault, and perhaps felt it wasn’t taken seriously enough on the ground in Salt Lake, and called police to investigate.
I do agree that the glass in the head wound that comes from the out-of-town manager is interesting and might be a clue to what happened specifically with Todd. But I don’t think Todd was assaulted waking to a corner store. If he left the hotel premises, they would have seen that on video.
November 21, 2025 @ 7:16 pm
The band initially said he was assaulted, and they found him bleeding on the bus.
It was presumably the scene of the crime…didn’t they drive away with the crime scene?
November 21, 2025 @ 8:21 pm
I’m not exactly sure how to answer that question. At some point it was determined no crime had been committed. Both the Salt Lake City Police Department and South Salt Lake Police said that Todd was uncooperative with their investigations, as was the road manager. It seems the person who was most interested in getting to the bottom of the alleged assault was the out-of-town manager, but he was not really in a position of managing that situation on the ground.
From the beginning, there has been this perception that Todd Snider got assaulted, and was left on the streets of Salt Lake City for dead as the band and manager skipped town. Todd was supposed to be on a plane to Nashville early on November 2nd, was at the airport, was possibly on the plane in his seat, and bailed. The bus and band had left. The tour was cancelled. Maybe if they had known Snider would bail from the airport and need to be tracked down and assisted, they would have stayed.
November 22, 2025 @ 9:43 am
The report on KSL dot com says Snider got off the plane and an ambulance was called to the airport. I’m wondering, was this the same ambulance ride where he was previously said to have flagged somebody down on the street and said call me an ambulance, or a different ambulance ride? The tour manager put him in an ambulance while he flew home and the band took the bus? I need to write myself a timeline to keep track of all this!
November 22, 2025 @ 10:09 am
Now that we have this trove of information from the Salt Lake City Police Department, some holes in the timeline are able to be filled in, and I might publish an updated timeline here soon. But there are still tons of holes in it.
My understanding is Todd Snider went to the hospital three times:
1. On the morning of November 1st after being discovered with the head injury.
2. After exiting the plane/airport the morning of the 2nd.
3. After being taken in an ambulance to the Holy Cross Hospital where he was denied/arrested after phone call was made to police at 245 S. State Street at about 3:40 pm on November 2nd.
I have not been able to verify that an ambulance was called for Snider at the airport, though I have no reason to not believe KSL’s reporting. They have been pretty on top of this story, and since they’re local, they might have a way to get medical info that I have been denied. What I heard (but cannot verify) is that Todd himself claimed he got a cab at the airport and took it to the hospital.
I’ve also not been able to verify whether the tour bus was from Nashville, was a rental, or how the band got back home. What I do know with pretty good certainty is the tour manager was on the same flight as Todd Snider that was supposed to have returned Snider home to Nashville before he bailed. I don’t know if the tour manager knew Todd Snider exited the plane, if Todd bolted before even boarding, but I do believe the tour manager took that plane and Todd didn’t.
I just once again want to emphasize that there is no indication that the band purposely abandoned Todd Snider in Salt Lake City. The plan was for Todd Snider to fly home to Nashville, ill advised or not, or whether Snider should have rode on the bus or not. That was the plan. That plan got scuttled when Snider refused to take the plane. At that point, the band is likely hours down the road, might not even have known Snider didn’t get on the plane, and is probably not in a position to do anything to help find Snider out in Salt Lake with no cell phone.
November 22, 2025 @ 10:00 am
“‘Todd was supposed to have returned to Nashville (on Nov. 2) but was still in some pain at the Salt Lake City International Airport, therefore EMS were called and responded there to medically evaluate him. Todd was transported to another Salt Lake area hospital,’ the report states.”
November 22, 2025 @ 12:42 pm
Hey Random Dope,
So the report I got from the Salt Lake City Police Department does not have any information about the airport and any interactions there. I will have to follow up on Monday and see if this was a different report, or where this information came from. I’m not saying it’s incorrect at all. I just do not have that specific information, though I have heard from numerous sources in the know who say Snider was at the airport, was supposed to take the plane, and didn’t. I believe Todd told some people he took a cab to the hospital, but who knows. Snider could have been disoriented at that time from numerous things. From what that report states, he was transported, but it doesn’t say by ambulance.
Due to HIPAA laws, I can’t access ambulance records. But sometimes a local reporter can get access to some of this stuff via personal contacts.
November 21, 2025 @ 4:47 pm
One thing that’s clear is you can’t hide your head, and if you get a gash or a cut or a scrape on the head, there tends to be a lot of blood–as anyone who’s watched boxing can attest–or even pro wrestling in the good old days when they used to “blade” themselves to create color.
So if Todd had a head wound that require 20 surgical staples to close, it would have been noticed. So if people report seeing him and he was not bleeding (and was not wearing a large hat or kerchief or other covering, then the injury had to have occurred after such sightings.
November 21, 2025 @ 6:53 pm
Trigger, any reports on services for Todd?
Also, what else do you feel is important for understanding as things progress?
Much gratitude and appreciation for the time and effort you have taken to help so many caring fans understand what Todd experienced even though heartbreaking. Truly appreciated!
November 21, 2025 @ 7:59 pm
My understanding is there has been or will be a small private service for family and close friends. There is also a much larger celebration of life in the works that will possibly be held at The Ryman, possibly in May when they can get everyone together. Will definitely let folks know if this comes together.
November 22, 2025 @ 12:29 am
Trigger, I appreciate you going the extra mile in your reporting. So many people have jumped to conclusions stemmed from emotions. Not you. A+ reporting. From the beginning I have said you don’t need to any further than the fact that everybody who knew him LEFT HIM. Tells you everything you need to know. But I do like that you are finding all the facts. I don’t like that the hospital or the police are getting blamed by people. Was the security guy in the body cam a perfect human? Probably not. Did he cause Todd’s death? No way. A whole bunch of shit happened and to blame strangers who happened to come in contact with Todd for a few minutes during his final days on earth is completely irresponsible.
November 22, 2025 @ 8:29 am
Thanks BEH.
I will say this: The fact that so many people are not being forthright with information, or have said outright misleading stuff, is one of the major drivers of speculation about what happened to Todd. I have Det. Michael Ruff from the Salt Lake City Police Department on record telling me emphatically that the incident did not happen in their jurisdiction, and there had been no investigation. Then three weeks later, we learn there had been an extensive investigation. Todd Snider’s camp tells us there was a violent assault, and then we learn there likely was no assault. This has people distrusting everything and asking, “What else are we being lied to about?” That is why even with this recent information, a lot of people have even more questions.
November 22, 2025 @ 10:22 am
I think it’s a lot easier to get out of contracts and other obligations when the artist is “violently assaulted” as opposed to saying something like “artist is under the influence and out of control”
November 22, 2025 @ 7:21 am
Why did they cancel the tour because of an attack, then refuse to report the attack to the police?
They used the attack as an excuse to cancel the tour, but it wasn’t a big enough deal for them to take better care of him?
Then they admit Todd hates flying, he’s just been injured so definitely shouldn’t be flying… so they take his tour bus with his medications and go home without him?
Why didn’t they either wait for him, or if in a hurry, they could fly home and leave him the bus?
November 22, 2025 @ 10:14 am
It’s important to understand that there were two managers involved here.
The out-of-town manager was the one that called Salt Lake City Police, and did cooperate with them and try to get them what they needed to investigate the assault. That same manager or team is likely who put out the notification of the cancelled tour due to a “violent assault.” Since they were not on the ground, they might have not been privy to certain pieces of information.
The road manager is the one who seems to be on record not wanting to cooperate with the investigation. That said, this might have been at the behest of Todd Snider, who on numerous occasions appears to have been uncooperative with police when they tried to question him about what happened.
November 22, 2025 @ 10:57 am
Any word on where Todd will be buried?
November 22, 2025 @ 12:44 pm
Have not heard anything about this. His funeral was private with just close friends and family, but I believe they are trying to schedule a big celebration of life perhaps in May of 2026. I’ll try to share more info when it is available.
November 22, 2025 @ 2:11 pm
Otis said he’ll tell us Todd’s version when the time is right. I wish we had more details of what Todd was doing in the hotel for almost an hour before walking back to the bus on the night of Halloween. The parking lot cam report is that Todd is seen staggering and swaying while walking from hotel back to the bus. That would suggest that he was consuming something in the hotel. Drugs/alcohol?
November 22, 2025 @ 5:51 pm
Or it could be related to his meds or the spinal stenosis he was suffering from. We’re never going to know.
November 22, 2025 @ 2:15 pm
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
November 22, 2025 @ 4:18 pm
It feels from the reports that if management in salt lake had been more forthcoming about the cancelation or about needing help reining in Todd that things may not have spiraled. Todd had plenty of friends with the meens to fly to Salt Lake and bring him back or get him care.
November 23, 2025 @ 11:22 am
Trigger, first time posting here. I think you should change the ‘self-inflicted’ verbiage. I understand the police said that, but the term carries implications of intent that should not be in a headline given our present state of knowledge. thanks.
November 23, 2025 @ 12:21 pm
Hey C,
I appreciate your feedback and scrutiny on the title of this article, as well as the scrutiny of others. I recognize how some could misunderstand or misconstrue how “self-inflicted” was used in this context. After talking with some colleagues and mentors about this, I have chosen to keep the title as it is. It is very important that we cement in time what the police are saying, irrespective of what it is, and if we believe it or not. “Self-inflicted” was the term that came from a member of the Salt Lake City Police Department and was said to me during the reporting of this incident. I have it recorded and archived. Appreciate that for three weeks, the Salt Lake City Police Department was emphatic that there hadn’t been any investigation into the assault/injury because it was out of their jurisdiction. It’s important we keep up with who says what, and when.
On a much more technical note, changing the title of an article can create all kinds of issues with folks finding it, links to it breaking, all kinds of stuff, especially if it’s been up for 24 hours.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:44 am
I don’t see the term “self-inflicted” in the article. You instead use “self-induced”, which (to me) implies less direct causation than “self-inflicted.” Also, you do not quote the police using either term, so it seems to be your conclusion. Perhaps consider making the title consistent with the article if you insist on blaming the injury on Todd.
November 24, 2025 @ 11:50 am
There’s nothing wrong with the verbiage. It’s not an indication that he meant to hurt himself, only that his injuries were the result of something he did was doing with intent rather than a pure accident. For instance, if I cut myself with a utility knife while trying to open a box, that’s self-inflicted. If I reach into a drawer and cut myself on a utility knife that I didn’t know was there, that’s an accident.
It’s entirely possible that the incident was mischaracterized on the police report; but given that that’s how it was stated, it’s the correct way to report it.
November 26, 2025 @ 10:06 am
Self-inflicted
– You directly caused the injury to yourself.
– Implies an intentional act: cutting yourself, shooting yourself, punching a wall and breaking your hand, etc.
– In law or clinical notes, it usually signals purpose or at least volitional conduct.
Self-induced
– You caused the injury indirectly by creating conditions that predictably led to it.
– Often doesn’t imply intent.
– Examples: getting alcohol poisoning from drinking too much, passing out from drug use, dehydration from refusing fluids, heatstroke because you ignored precautions.
– You didn’t “inflict” the injury in the sense of striking or cutting yourself, but your actions induced the harm.
In short:
Self-inflicted = “I did this to myself.”
Self-induced = “I caused this to happen to me.”
November 26, 2025 @ 10:24 am
Self-induced always implies intent.
If you pick up a gun, point it at yourself, and pull the trigger with the intent of ending your life, the wound is self-inflicted, death from the wound is self-induced.
If you pick up a gun to look at it, not knowing that it’s loaded, and shoot yourself while handling it, the wound is self-inflicted, but if you die your death is not self-induced.
If you bump into a wall and knock a loaded gun off a shelf and it goes off and hits you, the wound is not self-inflicted and if you die your death is not self-induced.
November 26, 2025 @ 11:56 am
This is the textbook definition of a semantic argument. I have a recording of a police officer from the Salt Lake City Police Department telling me that the injury to Todd Snider was “self-inflicted.” That is where the quote comes from. That is why the title of this article states. I appreciate the scrutiny people are bringing to the title, and as I have stated numerous times before, I have scrutinized it myself. I decide to put “self-inflicted” in quotes just to make sure people understand this is not Saving Country Music’s words, but the words of the police. However, I remain someone stupefied why so much emphasis is being put on the stupid title of this article, and not the information contained in it, especially since it’s unlikely that without my reporting, this report would have never seen the light of day in the first place.
Instead of asking about the title, why aren’t we asking why a female band member heard Todd Snider crying out in pain at 9:00 PM on October 1st, but nobody called 911 and discovered the gash on the back of his head until 16 hours later? Two women in the touring entourage said Snider was acting strangely, and reported this to the tour manager, and the tour manager did nothing. Anyone want to question this?
November 24, 2025 @ 6:24 pm
Thank you for keeping us posted. I will continue to follow up with your reporting because he was my hero and I am having a hard time with him being gone
November 25, 2025 @ 7:11 am
Andrew, your comment sums up my feelings exactly. Thanks
November 25, 2025 @ 7:56 am
I appreciate y’all reading. There are going to be updates on this story coming soon.
November 27, 2025 @ 8:43 pm
There seems to be a couple of comments missing from your post on Nov 3 regarding this story… can one delete after posting a comment or is it something that has to be requested?
November 27, 2025 @ 11:00 pm
No comments have been deleted, unless there was some accident or glitch. People cannot delete comments after posting. They can request their comment be deleted, though I regularly discourage this, because deleted comments often can create even more drama, as this comment illustrates.