A Drexel University medical student plunged to his death as he roof-hopped with friends in Philadelphia over the weekend, authorities said.
Vivek Subramani, 23, of New Jersey — who was in his third year at the Philadelphia med school — was jumping from rooftop to rooftop shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday in the city’s Spring Garden section when he missed the mark and fell two stories, hitting his head on the ground, police said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Two of his pals — also medical students — told police that they had been drinking at an earlier event and then went rooftop-jumping, the report said.
At least one of them performed CPR on Subramani until medics arrived, local media reported.
The victim was pronounced dead at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital a short time later, police said.
John Fry, president of Drexel University, said in a statement that Subramani fell from a balcony.
When asked about the discrepancy with authorities’ accounts, Drexel rep Niki Gianakaris told the paper that the Philadelphia Police Department is handling the investigation, “so they would be the ones to confirm any details about the incident.”
“On behalf of the entire Drexel community, I want to extend my deepest sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of Vivek,” Fry said in the statement. “There are no words to express the sense of loss when any young life is cut so short, and especially for someone with so much promise.”
There were no signs of foul play, and no narcotics were found, authorities said.
Police spokesman Sgt. Eric Gripp called the incident “a tragic accident.”
Subramani graduated from Drexel University in 2017 with a biological sciences degree before attending medical school there, according to his Facebook page. He graduated from South Brunswick High School in Monmouth Junction, NJ, in 2014.
He was a member of the Sigma Beta Rho fraternity, according to a GoFundMe page that the organization launched to raise money for his family.
“As anyone who knew Vivek would say, Vivek was a bright, young and caring man who was so close to achieving his dreams of becoming a doctor,” the fraternity said. “He would always brighten up any room he walked into and was more than a friend to those who knew him.”