World

A California teenager fell to his death trying to film a social media stunt on Los Angeles’ new $500 million bridge: police

A cyclist crosses the Sixth Street Viaduct which is lit in red to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

  • A 17-year-old boy in Los Angeles fell to his death while climbing the arches of an iconic bridge.

  • Police said he wanted to post a “social media broadcast” when he slipped and fell.

  • The 6th Street bridge has often been closed due to dangerous stunts and drag races held there.

A 17-year-old boy fell to his death on Saturday after attempting to film a social media stunt on the Los Angeles 6th Street bridge, police said.

The teenager, who was not named, slipped while “climbing upon one of the arches in order to post, apparently, a social media broadcast,” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said during a Tuesday board meeting.

“Tragically we see that location, while it has spawned a great deal of pride in Los Angeles, it has also unfortunately served as a backdrop now for tragedies such as this,” Moore said.

Police found the boy at around 2 a.m. on the 6th Street viaduct, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital, per The Associated Press.

Moore did not say which social media platform the teenager was using.

The $588 million bridge, opened in July, has been closed multiple times due to incidents of vandalism and street stunts. It’s notoriously become the site of street takeovers and illegal drag races, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Some TikTokers have filmed themselves climbing the bridge’s arches — which light up in red and blue and are its defining feature.

According to the Times’ Tom Carroll, plans for the bridge initially featured guardrails and stairs on its arches. However, that design was eventually scrapped, Caroll reported.

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