Man dies trying to parachute from top of San Diego high-rise as 16-year-old daughter watched, police say
A man was killed after attempting to parachute from the top of a high-rise apartment building in San Diego as his 16-year-old daughter watched, police said. The man died after BASE jumping at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in the University City neighborhood, police said.
The 48-year-old man was attempting to parachute from the 23-story Palisade UTC luxury apartment complex, near the UTC mall, police said. According to a database of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, Palisade UTC is 277 feet tall.
"We're unclear as to whether the parachute malfunctioned or if it just didn't have enough time to open up properly and deploy," Capt. Scott Wahl said.
"We believe that his daughter was up on the rooftop with him, and was able to view what happened," Wahl said.
According to police radio traffic, a 911 caller heard a "loud pop" similar to a gunshot, looked over a balcony and saw the man bleeding on the ground, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
Officers and paramedics gave the man CPR, but he died before he could be taken to a hospital, officials said. He wasn't immediately identified.
BASE jumping consists of parachuting from fixed objects. BASE is an acronym for the categories of objects people leap from: buildings, antennae, spans and earth, such as cliffs.
It is illegal and participants can be cited for misdemeanors such as trespassing.
Wahl told KFMB-TV that police have seen these types of stunts before.
"The intent behind having the ordinance in place is to deter people from doing. There are consequences for a successful jump and consequences for an unsuccessful jump are life and death. Sometimes you'll see them at the cliffs, other buildings or bridges in San Diego," said Wahl. "The police department isn't always notified when there's a successful jump. We're only called when things don't go as planned."
