SAN JOSE — The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. public library at San Jose State University was shut down for the day after a person died from an apparent six-story fall inside the building’s atrium Monday afternoon, according to the university.
The fall was reported around 3 p.m. and originated on the sixth floor of the interior atrium, university spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris said. The person who died was not immediately identified, but was not a San Jose State student or employee, according to university officials.
Harris said there is no evidence of foul play or any threat to public safety posed by the incident.
Jake Patterson, 30, a recent San Jose transplant from Baton Rouge, said he was on the second floor working on his résumé when he heard a loud “thud,” followed by some commotion. He said he then looked over a railing and saw what appeared to be a man on the atrium floor, face down, limbs twisted, and bleeding from the head.
In the next half hour, Patterson said, police secured the scene and began evacuating library patrons. Early Monday evening, the body lay covered by a sheet in the center of the atrium, cordoned off by police tape.
Both the University Police Department and the San Jose Police Department are investigating the fall, according to the library, which serves both the campus and the general public. Employees and students were asked to clear the facility. The library is expected to re-open Tuesday morning.
