People Are Freaking Out About That Major Death on 'Grey's Anatomy' [SPOILERS]

Warning: Grey's Anatomy spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.

We have to say goodbye to yet another Grey's Anatomy character. In the midseason premiere, Doctor Andrew DeLuca (who also exists in the crossover Station 19 world) was murdered by a bad guy from the trafficking ring. He was stabbed by him, and although he was rushed to the hospital, he tragically died. The (bittersweet) good news? The traffickers were arrested.

The plot ties back to Season 16 when Andrew (played by Giacomo Gianniotti) believes a patient is being trafficked by a supposed aunt who brought the victim in to the hospital to be treated. Andrew, who is bipolar, was in the middle of a manic episode, so everyone just thought he was being paranoid. But he ended up spotting the trafficker (Opal) and was determined to go after her. Which he did, and it got him killed. RIP, Andrew DeLuca.

While the plot totally makes sense, fans are wondering if there was another reason why Andrew got killed off. Given that it's Grey's Anatomy and the show's been known to kill off cast for alleged personal issues, did something similar happen here?

Giacomo Gainniotti left Grey's Anatomy because that was the right thing for his character — although Giacomo is supposedly coming back in one of Meredith Grey's beach dream sequences, so watch out for that. Andrew's death was mapped out purposefully, and it doesn't seem like there's any negativity between the actor and show. Showrunner Krista Vernoff stated that his character died a "hero."

She told Variety, "I think he went out a hero. I think that he went out fighting for what he believed in. And he was through his mental health crisis. He’d become a very productive member of the hospital staff. And he wasn’t going to let this woman walk away again."

Before that, she explained how Andrew's death came to her, saying, "Honestly, the story told itself to me. I went for my walk on the beach to come up with my pitches, and these episodes came in whole cloth, like a vision. And I was like, 'Oh, no! Really, that’s the story?' And it was. We knew as I pitched it that it was the midseason finale story."

She added, "Sometimes stories tell themselves to you, and your heart just breaks. You’re like, 'That’s not what I want the end of that story to be!' But that’s so much of life this year."

Giacomo addressed the death of his character on Instagram, saying, "Well thats a wrap! 🎬. 10 days of beautiful, fast paced, red eyed glory. Wouldn’t change it for the world. Thank you so much to my whole team at @greysabc for the support." 

He also tweeted, "So much I could say... but all that comes to mind is thank you. Thank you to all the fans who loved Deluca as much as I did. Telling his story was and will be one of the great honors of my life. Thank you." We're not crying, you're crying!

Watch new episodes of Grey's Anatomy every Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.