Student Dies After 4th-Floor Fall
Alternative content
Student Dies After Fall
A 20-year-old Ohio University student died at an area hospital after he fell from a fourth-floor dorm window.
Photo courtesy of http://www.ohio.edu/.
UPDATE: A 20-year-old Ohio University student died at an area hospital after he fell from a fourth-floor dorm window late Tuesday.
ATHENS, Ohio —A 20-year-old Ohio University student died at an area hospital after he fell from a fourth-floor dorm window late Tuesday.
NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS Wednesday.
University police said Eric Hansen fell through the top half of a split window.
“They are double-hung windows … we believe in this case when he fell, the upper half had been lowered down,“ said Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers.
The investigation is still open since it’s less than 24 hours old.
Ohio University police said officers were dispatched to the Weld House at about 11:58 p.m. Tuesday.
Hansen first was transported to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens and later was moved Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he died at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Hansen was a sophomore in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology. He was from Seven Hills, Ohio, near Cleveland.
Students who live in Weld House, which is located on the university’s campus, said they heard a commotion around midnight.
They said they saw numerous police and emergency officials on the ground working on Hansen.
They described the scene as chaotic but said they didn’t know exactly what happened.
Police would not comment on the investigation and whether there was foul play or a criminal investigation or if drugs or alcohol were involved.
The university police chief said an investigation like this one hasn’t happened on campus in about 15 years.
For additional information on this developing story, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com—Where Accuracy Matters.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail
.
MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News
NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
DDenial is not a river running in africa ... it runs through most high schools and colleges where partying goes on a daily basis ... this could have happened at any college because it could have happened to anyone who is lured into a false sense of security regarding partying.
This kid probably got hooked up with other kids who see this kind of activity as “normal” because it was part of their everyday life even before they got to college.
Kids are gonna try stuff in college because they are surrounded by a culture that glorifies experimentation. The difference is that some kids are abusive users and some kids are just experimenting. In any case, we should be teaching our kids to treat any situation where partying is involved to never leave their friend & call for help. Geeze, they have cell phones.
Regardless, kids shouldn’t be dying in college by falling out a window from partying because there are too many kids in college who can intervene here so it’s pretty clear in this case very few kids were involved. Kids with a history of cowardice, immaturity, and irresponsiblity.
Anytime you have that in the equation it spells disaster and somebody really innocent pays the consequence.
I cannot believe the amount of criticism displayed by the community. This young man has lost his life. His family will never be able to hug, kiss or even talk to him over the phone again. These people need to look past their selfish tendencies and put themselves in this families situation. Instead of passing judgement on him, we should praise him for trying to become a contribution to society. He attended OU with a promising future, but sadly his life ended too short. Instead of nit picking the situation show support. His life ended abruptly without any warning, imagine how that must feel to his family and friends. I graduated with his older brother and I can only say good things about him and his family. During this time instead of being self-centered, be altruistic.
wow. i cannot believe some people on here, a student dies, and someone can leave a comment so crude and give no sympathy to his family? YES he fell out of a window, and he died, yet all you can do is criticize all college students for this? Very rude. I live in the dorm right beside Weld and although I did not know him personally, i send condolences to his family. Im not sure if you have children, but regardless you should understand the pain that his family and friends must be going through right now. Similarly i knew the young man who lost his life over the summer in Myrtle Beach after falling from a window. I remember reading comments like the one I’m referring to and how it angered me that people seemed to degrade and punish him for losing his life.
I send my sincere condolences to the Hansen family.
I’m thinking if you have to worry about your college student falling out of his/her window, you’ve got bigger problems than what NBC4 titles their stories.
So there it is - a moment’s carelessness or stupidity and 20 years comes to nothing. I hope Eric Hansen had siblings because the only thing worse than losing a child is losing an only child. Perhaps nbc4i.com should make a greater effort in identifying the locations of events such as this in their headlines. Reading it at 6:30 and not knowing where it happened raises the spectacle that it might be MY child. Not a good way to start the day.
I think the main focus should be the fact that this student lost his life in an unfortunate accident. Who cares what the building is referred to as. You should be ashamed.
In response to jk158206. Are you serious? who cares whether someone calls it a dorm or residence hall. I hear RA’s refer to it as a dorm all the time. I never hear people saying “Im going to head back to my residence hall”.
seriously…how does a 18+ year old “fall” out of a window?
Come on people…it’s called responsibility. SOME ONE was NOT innocently peering out their window and BAM! fell out!
Get a clue folks…these are our pilots, doctors, lawyers of the future and at 18+ years old don’t know how to keep from falling out of a 4th story window!
Also, to the author of the article, Weld is a residence hall, not a dorm. There is a difference. Residence halls are community and education oriented, and dorms are just a place to stay.
I am also an OU student. In response to AndyZ’s comment, the windows are meant to be opened from the bottom and have a screen in them. I am a part of the Residential Housing staff and know that many of the RAs throughout South Green do their best to close windows that are open from the top or have no screens. Also, the reason for the dorm being closed next year is for routine maintenance. The University tries to close one dorm on South Green each year to repaint rooms that need it, as well as fix anything that was vandalized. I have been through Weld many times, and there is nothing wrong with it that would cause someone to fall out of a window without it being that persons fault.
Advertisement