Atlanta Fan Falls: Witnesses Describe Scene, Does Stadium Need Rebuilding After Braves Fan’s Death?
An Atlanta fan fell to his death during an Atlanta Braves game against the New York Yankees on Sunday at Turner Field. A few witness accounts describe the horror that unfolded when 60-year-old Greg Murrey plummeted to his death, 50 feet from an upper-deck down to two lower stadium levels.
According to an ESPN report, moving ahead with plans to build a new stadium aren’t being addressed at this exact moment.
Braves second baseman, Jace Peterson, shares that his girlfriend was near the area where Murrey fell in Section 401, which is where the wives and children of the players sit for games.
“It was within 10 feet from her. So everybody whose families were here definitely experienced some part of it. It’s not good for anyone to see something like that.
A lot of player families were right there. I heard some pretty graphic stuff. It’s not something I really want to get into. It’s just unfortunate.”
The mother of Yankees catcher Brian McCann is a nurse, and was one of the first to respond following the Atlanta fan’s fall.
McCann says that his mother did everything she could with all of the commotion.
“She ran to him. She was in the mix trying to do everything she could.”
Murrey, of Alpharetta, Georgia, was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital after succumbing to his injures.
So, does this mean serious thought needs to be put into adding more safety features for this stadium — or a new one? Braves president John Schuerholz says the latest Turner Field fan fall isn’t the right time to discuss building a new Braves stadium.
“We made our plans long before this event occurred. Every facility that’s getting built, there’s a great deal of communication with architects and engineers and the league in terms of abiding by league standards for the industry. We certainly will do that.”
Fox News reports that Murrey appeared to be hanging onto a wire that ran from the protective net behind the plate, to under the press box. He then fell the rest of the way down onto the seats below after the net seemed to give under his weight.
This is the third time that an Atlanta fan has fallen from Turner Field. Another fan fell on August 12, 2013, after falling 85 feet from a walkway on the stadium’s fourth level. It was determined by investigators with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office that Ronald Lee Homer Jr., 30, died from committing suicide there.
Justin Hayes, 25, died after falling down a stairwell at the stadium in 2008 in a game against the Mets. Alcohol was a factor in the fall that led to severe head injuries, police confirmed.
[Photo Credit: Atlanta Braves / Twitter]
