A woman and two girls plunged to their deaths Wednesday after a leap from an outdoor cafeteria on the ninth floor of the downtown Los Angeles County Court building.
The deadly jump took place about 5:30 p.m. as the day's business was ending and the afternoon rush from downtown was beginning. It was witnessed by passers-by.
"I was going to the ATM and I heard somebody screaming out, so I looked up and there was a woman standing on the ledge," said witness Christina Brown, who works in a county assessor's office in the building.
The public has access to all floors in the building, including the ninth-floor cafeteria.
Civil and family law cases, including child custody issues, are heard at the building in the heart of downtown, although the reason for the jump wasn't immediately known.
Authorities said it also wasn't clear if all three jumped or if the woman pulled the girls off the building with her. Their names and relationship to each other were not immediately available, and Officer Don Cox, a police spokesman, said the case was under investigation.
Witnesses who saw the woman told authorities she was threatening suicide, police Lt. Horace Frank said, adding that a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who arrived at the scene tried to talk her down.
"He engaged in crisis intervention, he attempted to console the female to not commit suicide, he tried to talk her back into the ledge. As he's speaking with her, she jumped over," Frank told reporters at the scene Wednesday night.
Firefighters were heading to the scene when the tragedy happened.
The woman, whose name was not immediately known, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Bob Collis of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The girls, believed to be between 6 and 9, were taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where both died in the emergency room, said hospital administrator Barbara Oliver.<
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Providing Feedback said:
Rick Bonilla said:
Rick Bonilla said:
Thomas Morgan said:
Connie Weiss said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.