A young woman died after she reportedly fell from a third-floor balcony several blocks from the UC Berkeley campus early Sunday morning, police said.
Police and paramedics were called just after 12:10 a.m. to an apartment building in the 2700 block of Dwight Way, said Lt. Andrew Rateaver of the Berkeley Police Department. A passer-by reported that a college-age woman had fallen from the balcony. Rateaver said police were told she fell from the third floor but the case remains under investigation and details are still being determined.
The woman was breathing but unresponsive when first-responders got to the scene, according to unconfirmed scanner reports reviewed by Berkeleyside. Rateaver said medical privacy laws limit what he can confirm, but said the woman sustained head trauma, and that it was severe.
The woman is believed to have been affiliated with UC Berkeley but further details were not immediately available. Berkeleyside has reached out to the university to learn more.
Berkeley paramedics took the woman to Oakland’s Highland Hospital, the regional trauma center, but ultimately she did not survive.
According to unconfirmed scanner recordings, the woman lived elsewhere in Berkeley but had been visiting friends at the apartment when she fell. No information was available about whether drugs or alcohol may have played a role.
“At this time we are looking at all aspects of this tragic incident,” Rateaver said. “Drug use will be part of the investigative process.”
The young woman’s name has not been released pending family notification.
The Alameda County coroner’s office had no information on the case as of 1:20 p.m. Sunday.
This story will be updated if additional information becomes available.
