On a Friday evening in Seattle, two men who had bought ordinary tickets to the city's best-known landmark slipped out of the rhythm of a tourist visit and into something far more dangerous. Having changed into helmets, they cleared the glass barrier ringing the Space Needle's open-air deck and launched themselves into the sky from more than 600 feet up. Police now search for two unnamed men, while the landmark itself has yet to explain how such a leap became possible.
Police Seek Two BASE Jumpers Who Parachuted Off Seattle's Space Needle After Entering as Visitors
They bought tickets and went in like any other visitors
Mark
They bought tickets. That's the part that stays with me.
Mimi
Yes, they entered as ordinary visitors at about 8:50 p.m. Nothing about the entry was forced. The plan began once they were upstairs.
Luke
Worth noting that the sequence comes from police, drawing on camera footage. We have their account, not the men's.
Mark
What does the footage show?
Mimi
The men on the top level, then a restroom, then helmets when they came out. After that they ran to the glass, climbed over, and jumped.
Mark
Do we know where they landed?
Luke
No. Security wasn't sure, and police couldn't find them. Whether they landed safely is not established in the reporting.
Mark
And the charge?
Mimi
Trespassing, per the report from Officer Brian Pritchard. That's what they face once identified.
Luke
Facing charges isn't the same as being charged. And with no names, nothing has been filed against anyone in particular that we can see.
Mark
Has the Space Needle said anything?
Mimi
Not yet. It hadn't answered emailed requests for comment by Saturday.
Luke
So the question of barrier security is a reasonable one to watch, but nobody has confirmed any review.
Der Puls
- Two visitors vanished from an observation deck after a restroom change into helmets, a détour from routine sightseeing that turned a landmark into a crime scene.
- Security staff and officers lost track of the pair almost immediately, unsure where the jumpers had come down and whether they were hurt.
- Police are working from camera footage and a thin description of two white men in their late 20s, with trespassing charges pending but no names yet.
- The Space Needle has not publicly said how the men reached the edge, leaving the glass barrier's safety under quiet scrutiny.
On a Friday evening in Seattle, two men who had bought ordinary tickets to the city's best-known landmark slipped out of the rhythm of a tourist visit and into something far more dangerous. Having changed into helmets, they cleared the glass barrier ringing the Space Needle's open-air deck and launched themselves into the sky from more than 600 feet up. Police now search for two unnamed men, while the landmark itself has yet to explain how such a leap became possible.
At about 8:50 on Friday evening, two men bought tickets to the Space Needle and went inside like any other visitors. Within a short time, they had climbed over the glass wall at the top of the 605-foot tower and parachuted off its edge.
Seattle police are now searching for them and say the men face trespassing charges. They have not been identified and are described only as white men in their late 20s. Camera footage shows the pair entering a restroom on the top level and coming out wearing helmets. They then ran to the glass barrier that ringed the open-sky observation deck, climbed over, and went off the edge, flipping as they went.
After that, the trail goes cold. Security staff were unsure where the men landed, and officers could not find them. Nothing in the police account says where they came down or whether they were injured.
The act is BASE jumping, an extreme sport whose name stands for buildings, antennas, spans and Earth. The Space Needle did not respond to emailed requests for comment on Saturday, so it has not said how the men got so close to the edge or whether it will change its deck security.
For now the open questions are who the men are, whether they are found, and whether the landmark tightens its barrier.
At about 8:50 on Friday evening, two men bought tickets to the Space Needle and went inside like any other visitors. Within a short time they had gone over the glass wall at the top of Seattle's best-known landmark and jumped, parachuting down from a structure that stands 605 feet tall.
The Seattle Police Department is now looking for them. According to a report provided by Public Affairs Officer Brian Pritchard, the men face trespassing charges. Police have not identified them. They describe the pair only as white men in their late 20s.
The account police have pieced together starts with camera footage. The two were seen on the Needle's top level, where they went into a restroom. When they came out, they were wearing helmets. The Space Needle's round observation deck is ringed by high glass windows that are open to the sky above, and the men ran to the glass, climbed over to the far side, and went off the edge. Police say they flipped over the edge as they went.
What happened next is unclear. Security staff at the Space Needle were unsure where the men came down, and officers could not find them afterward. As of the latest reporting, no one had been located, and nothing in the police account says where they landed or whether they were hurt.
The act is known as BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which people leap from fixed objects and deploy a parachute. The name is an acronym for the kinds of platforms involved: buildings, antennas, spans (meaning bridges) and Earth, as in cliffs.
The Space Needle did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment on Saturday, so the attraction has not said publicly how the men got so close to the edge, or whether it plans to change anything about its observation deck.
For now the open questions are the practical ones: who the two men are, whether police find and arrest them, and whether the landmark reviews its security at the deck's glass barrier. Police have so far named no suspects.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The jumpers face trespassing charges, according to a report provided by the department.— Public Affairs Officer Brian Pritchard, Seattle Police Department
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