Fan Critical After Fall: Police Investigate 40-Foot Fall by Fan at Bank of America Stadium
A fan attending the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game is in critical condition after he fell four stories off a ramp outside Bank of America stadium.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police identified the victim as Sean Michael Powers, 22, a resident of New Port Richey, Fla.. He is currently in critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries after falling about 40 feet off a fourth-floor ramp outside Bank of America Stadium.
Michael Stanford, the supervisor of special operations for Mecklenburg County EMS, explained that emergency responders received word of the incident in which a spectator fell from a ramp leading to the stands shortly after the 8 p.m. kickoff, according to The Charlotte Observer.
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The fall is the first of its kind for the Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, since the stadium opened in 1996.
Stanford said the spectator was transported to the trauma center at Carolinas Medical Center with ''life-threatening injuries.''
Major Eddie Levins of the Charlotte Police Department said officers are ''investigating what is being referred to as a public accident. A 22-year old male fell from what is thought to be the fourth level of the stadium.''
This is not the first time a fan attending a game has fallen several stories and the incident may lead to better safety measure at staduims to make sure these types of incidents do not happen again.
In September, a 25-year-old fan fell nearly 60 feet from a fifth-floor escalator at Reliant Stadium during a preseason Houston Texans game.
The fan was seen falling to the ground during the game as police stated that the death appeared to be an accident.
The man was traveling down from the fifth floor when he fell to the ground, according to Mark Miller, the general manager of SMG-Reliant Park.
"We make sure they're not overloaded and we try to operate them in the safest possible manner," Miller said in a statement.
