ATLANTA — The man who fell to his death from the upper deck of a U.S. sports stadium during a baseball game was 29, and it appeared to be an accident, authorities said. It was at least the third time a sports fan has fallen from the stadium in Atlanta in about a year.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday identified the man as Ronald Homer and said an autopsy was planned.
Homer fell more than 60 feet (18 metres) from the upper levels of Atlanta’s Turner Field onto a parking lot on Monday night. Witnesses described it as an accident.
"It appears he fell from an upper-level platform to a secured lot below," Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee said late Monday.
The man died of his injuries at a local hospital.
Chafee said he did not know if wet conditions or alcohol were factors. Heavy rains had led to a nearly two-hour delay of the game.
An Atlanta Braves spokeswoman declined comment Monday night, referring calls to the Atlanta police.
It was not the first fall at the stadium to result in death.
In May 2008, a 25-year-old man suffered head injuries when he fell down a stairwell at Turner Field during a game and later died. Police found that alcohol had factored into that accident, which the Braves had said was the first non-medical fatality to happen at the ballpark.
In August 2012, a 20-year-old man died after falling over a railing during a football game. Authorities said he landed on another man seated in the lower level and that alcohol was a factor.
The next month, a man fell about 25 feet (7.6 metres) over a staircase railing at a football game and was not seriously injured.
Turner Field served as the site of events for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
