Man who plunged to death from Empire State Building was junior at Yale University

Yale student plunged from Empire State Building

NEW YORK — A Yale University junior left a suicide note in his dorm room before heading to New York, where he apparently plunged to his death by jumping from the Empire State Building, police said Wednesday.

Cameron Dabaghi, 21, from Austin, Texas, jumped from the 86th floor observation deck Tuesday during evening rush hour. His note said he was sorry and he would be jumping from either the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River in upper Manhattan, or the Empire State building, police said.

There were seven other people on the observation deck at the same time, and one person tried to talk to the jumper as he climbed over the barrier, but was unsuccessful.

Dabaghi was dead when rescue workers arrived at the 102-story skyscraper shortly before 6:30 p.m. He was a student in Berkeley College, majoring in East Asian studies. The college dean was meeting with students Wednesday, and counselors were available at the university to anyone who needed them.

“Yale is extending support to Cameron’s family, roommates and friends at this most difficult time,” the university said in a statement.

The Empire State Building is the third-tallest building in the United States. More than 30 people have committed suicide at the building since it opened in 1931. The most recent one occurred in January 2009, when a 54-year-old woman died after jumping from the 39th floor and landing on the 25th floor.

The skyscraper reaches 1,454 feet to the top of its lightning rod.

(This version CORRECTS that the most recent suicide was January 2009, instead of 2006.)