Teen Falls to His Death While Climbing L.A. Bridge in Apparent Social Media Stunt: Police
The 17-year-old victim was attempting to climb the 6th Street Viaduct on Saturday when he "slipped and fell to his death," according to authorities
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
6th Street ViaductAuthorities say a teenager has died after falling from a well-known bridge in Los Angeles during an apparent social media stunt.
The 17-year-old victim was attempting to climb the 6th Street Viaduct on Saturday when he “slipped and fell to his death,” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday at a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting, according to the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times.
Moore said the victim fell while climbing up one of the arches “in order to post, apparently, a social media broadcast” around 2 a.m. local time, per the outlets. Additional details about the "broadcast" are not immediately clear, reported the Times.
The teen was transported to L.A. County USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to The Los Angeles Daily News. The victim’s identity has not been released to the public.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
This is just the latest incident to occur at the newly-erected bridge, which opened last summer, and has become popular for filming social media challenges. In one incident, a man sat in a barber’s chair located in the middle of the road, according to the AP.
“Tragically we see that location, while it has spawned a great deal of pride in Los Angeles, it has also unfortunately served as a backdrop now for tragedies such as this,” Moore said at Tuesday's meeting, per the AP and the Times.
Related: Kansas Woman, 28, Dies in Fall at Montana's Glacier National Park
The teen is now the third person to die on or near the bridge since it opened about 10 months ago, according to the Daily News.
Among the victims is a man who was shot on the bridge in January while reportedly filming a music video, the AP and the Times reported.
Moore went on to promise that “added patrols will continue at that location” as well “to counter such reckless actions,” per the outlets.
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