Man, 35, Dies in Leap From Downtown Courthouse

A 35-year-old man died Friday after jumping from the ninth-floor observation deck of the downtown Los Angeles County Courthouse, police said.

In December, a woman pushed her two young daughters off the same deck and then jumped. All three died.

The name of the man who died Friday was withheld pending notification of relatives. The man, a Los Angeles resident, jumped from the Grand Avenue building about 1:50 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

“We have no idea why he decided to end his life,” said Sgt. John Pasquariello, a Los Angeles police spokesman. “It’s a mystery right now.”

Police said the man did not have court business Friday and had no cases pending.

Pasquariello said a suicide note was left on the deck. In it, the man said goodbye to family and friends but did not indicate why he wanted to take his life.

Pasquariello said that minutes before the suicide, a sheriff’s deputy had been called to the ninth floor to check a report that someone was threatening to jump.

Witnesses on the deck said that before jumping, the man was seen lying on the deck’s granite railing, which is about five feet high. The deck is accessible from a restaurant on the ninth floor.