A person fell to their death at a stadium during the graduation ceremony for Ohio State University on Sunday, according to university officials.
"Tragically, an individual fell from the stands and is deceased. We have no additional details to share at this time," university spokesperson Ben Johnson told Newsweek in an emailed statement. "For anyone affected by yesterday's incident, we will make counseling and other support resources available."
The person, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead by medics at 12:25 p.m., according to the Columbus Division of Police, WBNS 10TV reported.
The fatal fall took place at the university's Ohio Stadium, a large football stadium that has a seating capacity of around 100,000 people. The university's commencement had begun at noon.
Newsweek reached out to the Columbus Division of Police via email for more information about the incident.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, which was the first to report the news, an officer sent out a request for help over the OSU police radio, stating: "I need medics and some officers at gate 30 (of Ohio Stadium)... had one fall off the stadium."
One witness told the Columbus Dispatch that they saw someone fall as the final graduates moved to enter the stadium through the tunnel used by football players during the university's home games.
The commencement continued despite the incident, and 12,555 students still received their diplomas or certificates in person on Sunday, according to WBNS 10TV.
The site where the person fell was cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape, Dispatch photographer Doral Chenoweth said.
Dispatch reporter Jordan Laird, who was at the venue when the incident took place, noted in posts on X that the commencement speaker didn't address the death.
"The commencement speaker is singing right now and it's so weird. The graduate I'm here for is texting and people around her are not OK," she wrote.
"This Ohio State commencement speaker is talking about bitcoin and somebody is dead. The students appeared to boo when he said bitcoin is a misunderstood asset," she wrote in another post.
The university had in recent weeks been one of many across the country engulfed by pro-Palestine protests, with reports of some students being arrested.
After some universities' graduations were briefly disrupted by protests, Ohio State's senior vice president of student life Melissa Shivers warned the university's attendees against doing the same.
"Today is a day for focusing on and celebrating our graduates. Disruptions will not be tolerated," she said before graduates walked in, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
