At approximately 2 a.m. Sunday morning, a man, later identified as 24-year-old Tommy Bennett died falling 13 stories from a Hale Wainani dorm room while trying to prevent another man's suicide.
According to the Honolulu Police Department (HPD), both men were admitted to the hospital in critical condition after falling from a ledge outside of a window. The 19-year-old who had wanted to take his life survived, but the 24-year-old who had attempted to stop him later died.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) Community Programs Manager Sarah Rice said that both DPS and HPD received calls about the tragedy and arrived at around the same shortly after the incident.
While neither of the men were students at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, a party was allegedly underway in one of the apartments. A Hawaii News Now report said a witness told police he heard yelling coming from that room and soon, he heard glass shatter and saw two men drop from the 14th floor window.
"It was a terrible tragedy. We don't ever want to see anybody get hurt or killed on campus and our condolences go out to their family ... We're going to make sure that anybody who needs [help], that it's available to them and it's easily accessible," UH Spokesperson Dan Meisenzahl said in a phone interview.
While counselors were brought down to the scene, he said that because of the timing of the incident, the majority of residents were unaware of what had happened. He believed police had left the scene before 8 a.m.
The incident is still under investigation.
Around 20 residents – either students in interim housing or RAs – currently live in Hale Wainani, all of whom have since been provided information about counseling services offered at UH Mānoa, according to Meisenzahl.
The event took place during UH Mānoa's move-in week, where more than 3,800 students will be settling in to the dorms, according to a Student Housing Services schedule. The majority of Hale Wainani students are scheduled to arrive Friday.
If students witness an emergency on-campus, Rice recommends they immediately dial 911.
Counseling Services
For both students who live on and off-campus, counseling services are available for those seeking help.
Located in room 312 of the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center (QLC), the Counseling and Student Development Center (CSDC) is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to their website.
"[The counselors] are highly trained professionals that are experts in a wide variety of areas that students might have concerns or problems," Meisenzahl said.
Twenty-four-hour emergency assistance is available for students, no matter whether they live on-campus or not. For those on-campus, counselors can arrive within 15 minutes, according to the CSDC website. Also on their website is the number for an emergency hotline dedicated to students seeking help for matters of mental health.
Meisenzahl said that for those who are concerned about the wellbeing of themselves or another, there's a simple solution: "just reaching out, just asking for help."
"Whether it's your RA, whether it's a professor, there are so many experts here, there are so many support services available," he said. "Students are made aware of all the services available when they move in ... It's really a top priority for the university, to make sure that we have the resources available."
