Last month, the third death by suicide at a Disneyland parking structure in around 12 months was reported. At just 24 years old, Jonah Alexander Edwards jumped from the Pixar Pals parking structure, per authorities.
In the wake of Edwards’ death and the two others, Disneyland’s parking structures will now have increased security, Southern California News Group reported this week.
“In an effort to deter this type of tragedy, we have long had multi-layered security protocols in place at our parking structures, which we have substantially enhanced over time,” according to Disneyland officials cited in the report. “However, as with all of our security and safety measures, we don’t discuss specifics so as not to compromise our efforts.”
What is known is that Disneyland security has increased patrols in marked vehicles and on bicycles in the Mickey and Friends and Pixar Pals parking structures. According to Mouse Planet, uniformed officers will be posted at the upper levels of the garages.
Per the Orange County Register, the six-level Mickey & Friends parking structure has 10,000 spaces and was the world’s largest parking structure when it opened in 2000. Nearby is the 5,500-space Pixar Pals garage, which opened in 2019.
This February, Audacy reported that a woman jumped to her death from the Mickey and Friends garage. She was later identified as Marney Schoenfeld, 46, of Scottsdale, Ariz., said the Orange County Register. Just a few months before her death, Christopher Christensen, a principal and cellist from Huntington Beach, Calif., also reportedly jumped to his death there.
Overall, the Southern California News Group said there have been six suicides at the Anaheim, Calif., park’s parking garages over the past 13 years. After Edwards’ death the site Disney Dining said it was time for the parks to “do something” about the issue.
WDW News Today said that Disneyland security guards are now actively watching people who come to the top levels of the garages. They are approaching anyone who gets near the edge and calling for backup if necessary, said the outlet.
Thousands of guests visit the Disneyland park daily, according to the Orange County Register. While the New York Post noted in an article last year that suicides have also been reported at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, they are not concentrated in parking garages.
“Each year over one million Americans attempt suicide, and over 30,000 succeed,” said the abstract for a 2011 study published in the Journal of Healthcare Protection Management. “One of the most popular and successful methods of suicide is jumping, the authors point out, and one of the most widely-used venues for jumping are parking garages.”
Another example of a parking structure linked to multiple suicides is the Richard A. Beard Garage at the University of South Florida, per reports in The Oracle.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional counts from last year indicate nearly 50,000 people in the nation died by suicide.
Those who feel they or someone they know may be at risk for suicide can get help by calling the Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 988.