A man jumped to his death Friday from an 11th-floor exterior balcony at the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana and two Orange County sheriff’s deputies were injured when they attempted to stop him, authorities said.
It was unclear if the man, who has not been identified, had any court business or why he was in the building.
Santa Ana police detectives, who are investigating the fatal fall, said the man triggered an alarm when he opened the balcony door.
Courthouse deputies who raced to the scene found him standing near the balcony railing, preparing to jump.
When they were unsuccessful in talking the man out of leaping over the railing, they attempted to grab him, detectives said.
The man broke free from the deputies’ grasps and plunged to his death. The deputies were treated at a hospital for minor injuries after the 12:50 p.m. incident.
–Bob Pool