When tragedy strikes, we are often left trying to pick up the pieces of our lives, searching for answers and desperately trying to find answers. Many times the answers never come and others we not only have the answers, we have photographs. These images capture some of the last moments before tragedy struck these people, some you may remember, others have rarely been shared.

John Lennon

Truly a saddening image, John Lennon was signing autographs near his home in New York City. The guy standing behind Lennon is Mark David Chapman, his murderer. Ten minutes after this photo was taken Mark shoots and kills Lennon.

Air France Disaster

Air France Flight 4590 – The Concorde was on a scheduled international flight from Paris, France, to New York City, on 25 July 2000. During takeoff, it ran over debris on the runway that somehow punctured a tire causing a chain reaction that made its fuel tank catch fire. The plane quickly crashed into a nearby hotel, killing all 109 people on board.

Robin Williams

This is the final known image of comedic actor Robin Williams.  This was taken  a few days before he took his own life in 2014.  While the media thought Williams suicide was because of his lifelong struggle with anxiety,depression and drugs, it was later revealed that he had Lewy Body Dementia and was recently diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson’s.

Bear Attack

What would you do if you saw a bear charging at you in the woods? In 2014, Darsh Patel, age 22 was faced with that exact situation. Instead of running, he took this picture of a bear that kept approaching him and the group of friends with whom he was hiking. He was killed just seconds after this photo was taken.

Glider Down

In 1943, The mayor of St. Louis Mayor William D. Becker (pictured here on the left), climbed onto an experimental military glider to take a publicity photo and a short flight. Just as they were reaching the desired altitude, the left wing collapsed sending the glider into a downward death spiral. Everyone on board died in the crash.

USS Titanic

The unsinkable Titanic. How ironic. This was the last photo snapped of the famous ship as it hauled out of New York on April 12th 1919. After the amazing ship hit an iceberg, it started the slow process of sinking, eventually killing 1,503 people including passengers and crew.

PSA Flight 182 Air Disaster

The PSA air disaster over San Diego in 1978 was the worst mid-air collision ever and still ranks as one of the deadliest US air disasters ever killing all 137 people on both aircraft and seven people on the ground in houses, including two children.

Paul Walker

Fast and Furious star Paul Walker is shown here getting into his beloved Porsche Carrera GT with his friend Roger Rodas. This was the last photo ever taken of Walker before the two men died after Rodas crashed into a tree while he lost control of the car at 100 mph. In the shocking video footage, you can see the men trying to escape the burning car while it was engulfed in flames.

Biggie Smalls

Oh Biggie…why! The greatest rapper of all time was gunned down just months after Tupac was killed in Las Vegas. This is the last photo ever taken of rapper Notorious B.I.G taken after he left a party in Los Angeles. Moments later he was gunned down and just like with Tupac, nobody was ever arrested for the crime.

Patrick Swayze

The always fit actor who starred in Roadhouse and Ghost was but a shadow of his former self as he battled pancreatic cancer  when this photo was taken on September 14, 2009. This is the last known photo of Patrick Swayze taken just days before he died.

2003 R.I Nightclub

The band Great White was performing in a Rhode Island nightclub when the pyrotechnics malfunctioned. This malfunction caused an accidental fire to the sound insulation foam in the walls and ceiling of the nightclub. The photo above was taken right when the fire started as you can see in the back of the musicians. This tragic incident took the lives of 100 people enjoying the band’s performance.

Niagara Falls Claims Another Life

In 1995, A so-called “daredevil”named Robert Overacker tried to jet ski over Niagara Falls in order to raise awareness for a homeless charity. While his heart was in the right place, the execution went terribly wrong when his parachute failed to open. He drowned in the icy waters.

Disclaimer: The events of this story are entirely fictional and are products of the author’s imagination. Images included are meant for illustration purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.