A mom and her 2-year-old son are dead after a terrible tragedy took place on Saturday at the Padres baseball game in San Diego. The 40-year-old woman and her child fell from the concourse level of the stadium at Petco Park. The two were in a dining section of the park just before the fall.
The fall was an estimated six stories high. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Thousands attended the game on Saturday and witnessed the horrific event unfold. Now authorities are calling the deaths "suspicious." They've assigned homicide detectives to the case in order to investigate what happened further. The names of the mother and son have not yet been released, but they were both residents of San Diego.
Police say it's too early to know what exactly happened. But the two appeared to fall for no reason at all. They aren't sure whether the fall was an accident or not.
The fall took place just a few minutes before the first pitch was thrown out. The pair reportedly fell onto the concrete along Tony Gwynn Drive. Immediate efforts were made to save both of their lives, but those efforts failed.
The child's father was also at the game, though not with the two. They were in the concession area just before the fall. It's unclear if there was any kind of incident involving the father that happened before the mother and child died.
“Our hearts obviously go out to the family, but also to the people who here could potentially be traumatized who saw this,” Lt. Andra Brown told the San Diego-Union Tribune. “It’s a horrible, horrible thing. That’s why we’re giving it a very serious look.”
“I’m just sitting in my seat crying,” one fan tweeted just after the incident. “Wtf even matters right now on the field knowing what went down here. If anyone is at Petco and needs a hug I’m down. This is beyond devastating.”
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, many people witnessed the fall but most were too shaken to speak about it. One individual who didn't wanted to be named did say that it appeared the child was going over the edge and the mother tried to grab him before going over herself.
Authorities say that other witnesses will likely have more information that could answer their questions, as well as help the family to find some closure.
