A man was found dead after jumping from the balcony of a high-rise apartment building in University City on Tuesday. Police confirmed that the man was wearing a helmet and was equipped with a parachute that failed to open.
The man has been identified as 48-year-old Eric Roden, who was an experienced BASE jumper who lived in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
The incident occurred at a 23-story, high-rise apartment building located close to the Westfield UTC shopping center at around 10:30pm on Tuesday night. A neighbor called 911 and reported a "loud pop" similar to a gunshot, before they stepped onto their balcony and saw a person bleeding on the ground below.
Officers and paramedics who were called to the scene tried but were unable to resuscitate the man.
As more details have come to light, it's been revealed that the jumper was 48 years old, and that his daughter was present in the apartment when he jumped. Security guards at the building told NBC 7 that this isn't the first incident of BASE jumping to occur at the building, it's been happening for the last month.
BASE jumping is the exercise of jumping with a parachute from a fixed object, like a building, antennae, and cliffs.