U-M Student Falls To Death Through Glass Ceiling At Ann Arbor Shopping Center
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - A 21-year-old University of Michigan student fell three-stories to his death after breaking through the glass ceiling of a shopping center in Ann Arbor.
The incident happened around 2:20 a.m. Friday at Nickels Arcade, a covered pedestrian thoroughfare located just outside the U-M campus along South State Street at North University Avenue.
"It's kind of like an atrium area. It's a significant distance as far as height from the ground. It's not like a regular building, it's pretty high up," Ann Arbor Police Lt. Renee Bush told WWJ's Sandra McNeill.
According to police, the man and a female acquaintance had climbed up a fire escape to reach the roof, which is about three-stories high.
"I don't know how they got access to that particular area," said Bush.
The two apparently made it over the glass roof once and were attempting to cross back when the man broke through the glass and fell to the ground below.
"When we got there, there was a man lying on the ground and people were attempting to provide him first aid," said Bush.
The man was rushed to the University of Michigan Hospital where he later died. His name has not yet been released, but police say he's from Saugatuck. The woman was physically uninjured but emotionally shaken.
"She was very, very brave," said Bush. "She provided first aid to him along with some other bystanders. So, you know, that is a very traumatic scene and we're just very, very grateful that she was trying to help."
It's not yet known if alcohol or drugs played a factor in the incident, which remains under investigation.
"This whole situation just makes all of us sad because it's totally preventable. I just don't understand why they were up there," said Bush. "Was that area -- could somebody walk on that glass? I really don't know. I mean, normal people like yourself and myself, we would not go up there and walk on glass because our experience tells us that it's not a very strong structure. That's very unusual."
Bush said they've received calls about minor things at the center, like panhandling, but never anything like this.
"Somebody else asked me this question, like 'Do you have a lot of problems with that?' and I'm like 'No.' At least in my 24 years of being here, we've never had a situation in Nickels Arcade regarding this. Never on the rooftop. It's just a really sad situation," she said.
The shopping center remains closed until further notice.