League of Legends Champion Gangplank Killed in Lore / Event

As the League of Legends Bilgewater: Burning Tides event continues, Gangplank - the loveable orange eating pirate has been killed by his rival Miss Fortune, the pirate hunter. This is the first time a playable champion has been killed off in the game's lore and with the launch of the next phase of the Burning Tides event, Gangplank has been disabled and is no longer playable. Riot dArtagnan posted on the official website regarding Gangplank's death:

Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly. We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation. At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone.

There's no release schedule on what's going to happen next, but I suspect that after the event concludes, Riot Games will re-enable Gangplank, either as he was before or with a new default Ghost/Undead skin. I can't imagine Riot permanently deleting a champion, especially since many people already spent IP/RP to purchase the champion and his skins.