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Arts & Culture

Man Falls to Death at Phish Concert at Chase Center, 2 Others Injured

Nastia Voynovskaya
Police say they're investigating the death.
An exterior view of the Chase Center on March 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California.  (Ezra Shaw)

Update, Oct. 20, 4:58pm: The San Francisco Police Department identified the man who died Oct. 17 at Chase Center as 47-year-old Ryan Prosser. An SFPD spokesperson says there was evidence that he jumped from an upper level of the venue. The second fall at the venue appeared to have been an accident, police and witnesses say. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection plans to inspect the venue.

Original post: 

A man fell to his death at the Phish concert at Chase Center on Sunday, and two other people were injured in a separate fall less than an hour later.

A San Francisco Police Department spokesperson tells KQED that at 8:55pm on Oct. 17, numerous people alerted officers about a person in need of medical attention. When police arrived, they found a man injured from a possible fall and called medics.

“Medics arrived and immediately provided medical treatment, but despite the efforts of the emergency responders the victim succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased,” Officer Robert Rueca wrote in an email.

Rueca added that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, and that police found no evidence of foul play. Police have not released the name of the deceased.

Almost an hour later, at 9:45pm, officers and medics responded to another report of a man falling at the concert. That man, and a second man he landed on, were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

On social media, concert attendees who witnessed the tragedies reflected on the traumatic experience. “The sound and scene were incredible and horrifying,” wrote a Reddit user going by @delete_if_u_r_sure, referring to the first incident. He wrote that he and his son were two rows away from where the deceased man landed.

“Today, I feel for the community and especially for the family/friends of the jumper and all the people in 115-117 who got some undeserved wartime-like images – many while tripping,” he added.

A concertgoer named Juliet Biton told San Francisco Chronicle that within two minutes of one of the incidents, Chase Center personnel cleared out the area and put black tarp over the seats so that medics could attend to the injured.

Phish’s representative declined to comment, and the band has not posted about the incident on social media as of Monday afternoon.

Chase Center deferred questions to the police department. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the guest’s loved ones,” the venue’s spokesperson wrote. “We are working with the local authorities to determine exactly what happened.”

This is a developing story and may be updated. 

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