Chicago police said that a man in his late 40s died after jumping from Trump International Hotel and Tower late Wednesday morning.
Police said in a statement that the man appeared to jump from the 16th floor of the tower at 401 N. Wabash Avenue, reported Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said that at 11.45 a.m., paramedics responded to the east side of the building, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said that autopsy results released Thursday ruled his death a suicide.
According to the Trump Tower website, Terrace 16 is an outdoor restaurant that is located on that floor of the 98-story-tall building. The hotel hotel and condominium tower sits overlooking the Chicago River.
Back in October 2020, a man suspended himself from the top of the building for hours, reported the Independent. He threatened to cut himself loose until he could speak with then-President Donald Trump. As an act of unspecified protest, the man used a harness to climb up the building. A team of firefighters and Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) agents with the assistance of a Russian translator helped to get the 31-year-old down.
Meanwhile, in response to rising rates of suicide, there is a new effort for people to find help in suburban forest preserves and park districts, according to Fox 32 Chicago. David Barrios, Deputy Chief, Forest Preserve of Will County Police Department said that since the coronavirus pandemic, they "see a lot more visitors to the forest preserves." They have also "gotten more calls for these kinds of situations with mental health issues," he added.
While high-profile cases make the headlines, forest preserves have had other suicides that don't get reported by the press. Now, green signs are coming up in green spaces, like in Hickory Creek Forest Preserve in Will County, and they let people know help for suicidal individuals is a call or text away.
Barrios said that their goal is if "someone sees a sign and they’re thinking about committing suicide, they see it, they call a number and they get help instead." The signs can be seen in Will County and DuPage County forest preserves. Officers are trained to respond to such situations as well. Barrios said that they are "not here to arrest people. We’re here to help people."
There's another new effort that aims to show the healing effects of nature. Barb McKittrick, Environmental Education Manager at the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, said that there's been a lot of studies lately that "show spending time in nature is also good for your mind, your cognitive ability and also just your mental health." It helps to "decrease stress and anxiety," added McKittrick.
