SAN DIEGO (KSWB) -- Police say a man who fell to his death from a San Diego high-rise Tuesday was an experienced BASE jumper who had his teen daughter with him.
The man was found on the ground around 10:30 p.m. near Palisade UTC, a luxury apartment complex in the University City neighborhood, San Diego Police Department confirmed. He was wearing a helmet and had a parachute with him.
Investigators are still determining exactly what happened, but it appears to be a fatal accident involving the extreme sport BASE jumping, in which people leap from a tall fixed object such as a bridge or a building, using a parachute to land safely.
“He had planned to deploy a parachute and survive the jump,” San Diego Police Capt. Scott Wahl told KSWB. “He’s got a history of doing different types of jumps. Really, it’s a tragic event. It’s one that’s absolutely avoidable.”
Officers say the victim’s daughter witnessed his fall.
“This individual had his 16-year-old daughter there, and as a father of four kids, I cannot imagine what she’s going through at this point. No question that she’s never going to forget those final few moments,” Wahl said.
Police say BASE jumping is illegal, but an incident like Tuesday’s death may serve as a stronger warning than any criminal penalty.
“There are consequences that are life and death -- this is for real,” Wahl said. "It’s not just a crime to do it. When things don’t go as planned, there are other people who are severely traumatized and impacted.”
Authorities said they have not determined how the man got to his position atop the building, which is 23 stories and stands about 280 feet high.
Police had not publicly identified the man as of Wednesday evening.
San Diego officers have dealt with BASE jumping crimes before. In 2018, they captured a man named Nicholas Marinkovic, who prompted "Batman" sightings when he stood upon a crane at 15th and J streets downtown, eventually leaping down uninjured but getting taken into custody.
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