[UPDATED] LAMB OF GOD Frontman Randy Blythe Arrested on Allegations of Manslaughter in Prague

NEW UPDATE Fri Jun 29th 11:40amEST: Lamb of God's publicist releases official statement clarifying the situation

Update Fri Jun 29th 1:20pmEST LOG guitarist Willie Adler released a statement with hopes that Randy will be released this afternoon. Original story as follows:

Some late breaking news to report. MetalSucks is reporting that Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has been arrested in Prague on charges of manslaughter.

This serious allegation stems from an altercation at a May 2010 concert where a fan leapt on stage and got into a physical confrontation with Blythe. The injuries the fan acquired during the incident that resulted in the fan's death are being attributed to Blythe.

MetalSucks was able to get in contact with a spokesperson for the band who had this to say:

A spokesperson for Lamb God says that Blythe is “wrongly accused,” that the band’s “lawyers are dealing with it,” and that “we expect him to be fully exonerated.”

Axl at MetalSucks was quick to point out that of all the footage available of the show, none features the altercation in question.

Update: Lamb of God have commented on the matter via tweet:

Update: Here is a local news report in Lamb of God's hometown, Richmond, VA featuring quotes from Randy's brother, Mark.

Update: An unconfirmed fan review of the show in question has surfaced. The Gauntlet posted a review found on a Czech blog called Sic Maggot, who detailed the incident (Note: the blog was written in Czech, and was roughly translated):

"[Randy] was very irritated when someone decided to join him on stage. At first Randy hit him a lot, then Randy jumped on him to hold him down while he continued singing? When the fan got up, Randy took him by the hair and threw down quite quickly. It was a good thing the fan was so dazed that he probably felt nothing. It took him a little while to realize what happened and as he struggled to get his breathe back. Randy does behave quite pretentious, but the performance was important to him."

Obviously, the blog post was laced with personal opinion when reporting on what happened. There seem to be conflicting reports as to whether the fan was pushed or punched. There were comments on the page that corroborate this story:

"Everything OK with that guy who fell down after a stage-push? We saw ambulance late after concert"

"He came down with a thud, when he fell down. The kid died after 14 days in a coma for bleeding in the brain!"

"OMG impossible! The vocalist should be sued then… He pulled him really heavily."

This is certainly shocking to say the least. While I'm not questioning if the incident happened or not, the question should be, was Randy acting maliciously or in self defense? Randy strikes me as one of the nicest/kindest people in the heavy metal scene. There had to be a reason for this altercation. Musicians can get quite defensive if they're feeling attacked on stage, especially after the tragic shooting of Dimebag. Where was security in all of this? A band member should not need to have to defend themselves, they should be able to perform for the audience.

NEW UPDATE Fri Jun 29th 11:40amEST: Lamb of God's publicist releases official statement clarifying the situation

2ND NEW Update: Read what musicians and industry figures are saying about the Blythe arrest on Twitter.

3rd Update LOG guitarist Willie Adler released a statement with hopes that Randy will be released this afternoon.

We will report on any further details as we get them.