A 19-year-old UW-Madison student jumped to his death from the top of a downtown parking ramp Tuesday afternoon.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. at the university's Frances Street ramp, which sits at the corner of Frances and Johnson Streets, near Ian's Pizza and the Kohl Center.
According to UW Police Sergeant Jerome VanNattta, the student did not appear to be with anybody else at the time of the jump. VanNatta did not say whether police are considering the jump a suicide, but said the investigation is ongoing.
Madison fire and rescue personnel raced to the ramp following the incident and rushed the male student to University Hospital. Police announced that the student was dead at 6 p.m. Tuesday, roughly four hours after he jumped from the ramp.
UW-Madison freshman Pat Moriarty arrived at the scene after the rescue team had taken the student to the hospital. Moriarty said several police officers worked on the top level of the ramp while others cordoned off the sidewalk with yellow caution tape.
""When I got there, they had everything roped off,"" Moriarty said. ""But another woman who had been there for awhile told me the guy had jumped.""
VanNatta said ""a number of witnesses"" saw the student jump from the top of the parking structure, which has been the scene of other suicide attempts during his 10-year police career.
""I've had at least three people jump off of that structure,"" VanNatta said. ""Generally we don't have a lot of people jumping off buildings. But when somebody is in a very distraught situation in their life this can happen.""
Colleen Little of the Dane County Coroner's Office would not say Tuesday night whether the coroner's office had officially labeled the incident a suicide.
""I'm still in the middle of working on this thing,"" Little said, noting that coroners have to run toxicology tests for every death, regardless of age or circumstances. She added that the coroner's office generally prefers not to publicize suicides.
""These are tragedies,"" Little said. ""And they really have no business in public.""
