Macy's Plays Host to Falling Death

By Shannon in News on Jul 26, 2007 4:00PM

Much to the enjoyment of many of our readers, Macy’s can’t seem to catch a break. It’s no secret that sales are down, a gracious amount stemming from local boycotts. Just this Monday their food court came down with a severe case of drosophila melanogaster (we did that from memory – damn you, freshman bio!), garnering a shutdown from the Health Department. Macy’s earned the right to reopen this morning, but with last night’s news, we’re not sure anyone will want to eat there.

An unidentified 29-year-old man plunged to his death inside the maligned store yesterday. The incident happened around 8 p.m., after closing time. Witnesses saw the man up on the 8th floor near the atrium; minutes later, he plunged over the balcony to the ground below. He was pronounced dead soon after arrival at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Police are treating it as a suicide, but so far it’s unclear whether he jumped or just fell.

Questions abound, of course. Why would a man, demarcated as not being a Macy’s employee, be in the store after close? Where exactly did it take place? If we go there tonight to check things out, will we see crime tape everywhere? Weird. Ultimately, this erodes Macy’s reputation even further. Be assured that we do not mean to make light of a tragedy. But if we were unusually cruel people, we’d speculate that if this man was dead set on suicide and also a Field’s supporter, he might have chosen Macy’s on purpose, whether for the many-storied atrium in the middle, or to make shopping there even less palatable. Consider it: can you ever really look at the fountain the same way again?

Image courtesy of Michael DaKidd.