University of Hawaii students on the Manoa campus Monday had mixed reactions to the death of a 24-year-old man who fell 14 stories early Sunday trying to prevent a 19-year-old man from jumping off a ledge at a campus dormitory.
“The guy who tried to save the other one was a pretty brave dude,” said a 19-year-old UH sophomore, who asked not to be named. “I got to give him a lot of credit because I don’t think many people would do that.”
As for the younger man, he said, “His life at that moment could have been horrific. Getting intoxicated could have pushed him over the edge.”
The Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday it may be days before the office releases any information, including the identity of the 24-year-old.
The 19-year-old man, who also fell, remained in critical condition Monday.
Police said the younger man was suicidal, and the older man was trying to talk him off the ledge.
UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said the two men who fell were not students. The student who lived at the dorm had people over, including the two men.
The student was receiving transitional housing to cover the two-week period between summer and fall sessions and was scheduled to move out by Sunday.
The university will conduct a routine internal investigation of whether any violations of the student code of conduct or housing policy occurred.
University of Hawaii sophomore Molly Jacoby said her boyfriend witnessed the fall from inside his third-floor dorm room at Hale Wainani’s Building F.
“My boyfriend said he heard a lot of noise,” she said. “He didn’t know there was two of them until (he saw) they were both on the ground.”
Jacoby said the men were attending a party Saturday night in a student’s 14th-floor room.
Jacoby, who knows the student through social media, said he posted a message on Instagram saying he had just returned Saturday from a trip to Texas.
“He really feels bad about it,” she said. “He was just having a get-together, and something like this happens. It’s really intense.”
A UH junior who lives on the third floor and who asked not to be named said, “The (man) that was trying to save him was moaning in agony. You could hear it from all around.”
She suspects the younger man, who was on a 6-inch ledge, was “most likely under the influence of something.”
“It was kind of sad,” said Krystal Alcayde, a UH junior who was moving into the same dormitory building Monday. “The school year didn’t even start, and they’re already having parties.”
Daniel, who declined to give his last name and works at The Market, located on campus near the dorms, said, “There are definitely a lot of parties going on around here. This campus is very dangerous. Too many high buildings. Too much alcohol.”
Counseling services have been offered to all university students.
“This was a terrible tragedy, and our condolences go out to the family and friends of the two men,” Meisenzahl said.
Meisenzahl said just 20 UH students and resident counselors were living Sunday in the Dole Street dormitory complex, which houses 600. Most dorm residents will move in Tuesday and Friday.
Star-Advertiser reporter Gregg K. Kakesako contributed to this report.
