After near-fatal fall, Minneapolis police and fire officials warn of dangers of 'urban exploring'
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Minneapolis police and fire officials say a fall that left an 18-year-old with life-threatening injuries this week highlights the dangers of so-called “urban exploring.”
The victim fell an estimated 20 stories at a decommissioned grain elevator Monday night.
Police said the victim was part of a group of teens and young adults who were trespassing at the former Checkerboard grain elevator near 38th and Hiawatha in south Minneapolis at about 8:30 p.m.
Minneapolis Police Sgt. Garrett Parten said the victim, whose name has not been released, reportedly was hanging from a beam when they fell. Parten said at a news conference Tuesday it’s “miraculous” the victim survived.
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Interim Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said the victim fell onto a flat roof membrane that may have slightly cushioned the fall.
Rucker and Parten both noted social media videos that show other people entering abandoned buildings — posts that may motivate others to try to do the same.
“We use the term ‘urban explorers’ like this is exciting — and it’s not urban explorers. You are trespassing. You’re breaking the law,” Rucker said at Tuesday’s news conference, livestreamed by KARE 11.
She said friends of the victim of Monday’s fall had to call for help.
“Just think of the trauma experiencing that,” she said. “One of your close friends falls to almost — they’re thinking — to their death.” Rucker also noted other dangers in old buildings, like chemicals and asbestos.
Parten said police tracked “over 80” reports of urban explorers in the city last year. This year, the total is already over 100 — including one church in northeast Minneapolis that’s had nine “urban explorer” break-ins in the past month.
Parten said people have also tried breaking into U.S. Bank Stadium. And in another case, seven people were found atop a 35-story high-rise — and one of them threw a crowbar from the top. Parten noted none of those people were from Minneapolis.
Parten said 15 people have been arrested in the city while urban exploring this year — with potential charges ranging from misdemeanor trespassing to felony damage to property.
Parten also said police have taken previous reports of trespassing at the grain elevator where Monday’s fall happened, and they have walked the property with the owners to identify where people entered. He said the owners have taken action to block those points — only for trespassers to find another way in.
Parten encouraged people to call 911 if they suspect someone is illegally entering a building. And he said the social media posts that may be fueling that trespassing can also be used by investigators.
“It literally records evidence of their activities, and it links specifically to their accounts. So, yes, it does help — in addition to the cameras that are also in the area that help us understand perhaps how they made access,” he said.
Monday’s incident was not the first time in recent years that people have been seriously injured — or died — while trespassing in abandoned buildings in Minneapolis.
There were fatal falls at an abandoned grain elevator in the Como neighborhood in 2015 and 2006.
A man died in a fall at an abandoned mill near Glenwood Avenue in 2006, and several other people have been seriously injured at the same site over the past two decades.
