Channel 11 has learned the man who fell from the upper level of PPG Paints Arena is a Beaver County native.
Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek confirmed the victim is a 2008 graduate of Blackhawk High School. His name has not been officially released, and Channel 11 is not releasing it yet out of respect to the man’s family.
Crews were called to the arena around 7:15 p.m. Monday after a man tripped and fell from section 234 after the second goal of the game, which came in the first minute.
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Sources tell Channel 11 he was attempting to step down from one row but tripped and fell.
The game continued as normal.
We spoke with one fan who witnessed the whole thing happen.
“Right now, I’m actually still traumatized. I hope he’s okay,” Jose Charris said.
Charris was at the Penguins game Monday night with his girlfriend when he saw a man fall from the 200s section down to the lower bowl.
“I was literally probably like 10 feet away,” Charris said. “I was just trying to locate our seats. And when I looked up, I just see him kind of tumble? And I saw him hit the glass and I looked over like, ‘did I just really just see what happened?’”
Charris said he saw the man fall down from section 234.
You can see in photos posted to social media the glass in that section shattered from the fall.
“Shock. Shock,” Charris said of the fans in the area. “You looked around and everybody was just still.”
Pittsburgh Public Safety said the man who fell hit another person who was sitting in the suite level below, before falling down to the lower bowl. They say the fan in the suite didn’t need to go to the hospital.
The man who fell was taken to the hospital with what was described as “life-threatening injuries.”
“Everybody started running over to him,” Charris said. “I was able to see some... gruesome stuff.”
Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby learned about the fall after the game, which continued as normal.
“So obviously our thoughts and prayers are with that person and their family, and hopefully they’re okay,” Crosby said.
That man is still in the hospital. There’s no word on his condition tonight.
“[My girlfriend and I] had a prayer last night,” Charris said. “Woke up this morning thinking about him, too. Hopefully, he’s okay; it was just really rough.”
The Penguins organization released a statement Monday night saying they are closely monitoring the situation and their concerns remain with the individual and his family.
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