An 18-year-old is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after falling down a decommissioned grain elevator in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis police say they responded to the fall around 8:30 Monday night.
They believe a group of teenagers were trespassing the Checkerboard Grain Elevator property on Cheatham Avenue in the Longfellow neighborhood, southeast of downtown Minneapolis.
One teen fell about 20 stories onto an elevated platform.
"This is a sad and tragic incident," says Minneapolis Police spokesperson, Sgt. Garrett Parten. "An 18-year-old individual, their life is changed forever. These injuries are going to impact them, for the rest of their lives."
Minneapolis Fire used a ladder truck to extricate the teen and firefighters provided medical care until they could get the teen to the hospital.
"We actually heard the scream," says Vox Payne, who lives near the area. "Just this summer, neighbors and I probably collectively have called 911 about 100 times."
She says these urban explorers take huge risks, as they attempt to record videos to post on social media, with groups there nearly every day.
"Some as small as a handful, two or three, and then some as large as 30, 40," Payne adds. "Sometimes that happens when they have some equipment up there like a trampoline or a swing or something."
Known for a prominent checkerboard-painted tower along Hiawatha Avenue, the site has been targeted for prospective apartment redevelopment.
It has also remained a frequent target for urban explorers, an issue that has become more prominent in the city, with groups of thrill seekers who enter abandoned, restricted, or decaying industrial structures. There are also reports some attempt to gain access to high-rise private buildings and residential structures downtown.
"I can tell you that it's been an issue," Parten explains. "It's been going on for quite some time. Last year, as best as we've been able to track it mostly in the first precinct and in the second precinct, we've had over 80 incidents, of reports of individuals involved in urban exploration. This year, we're at over 100."
One building manager who didn't want to be identified has confirmed to WCCO Radio that on numerous occasions, they have caught teens trespassing in the building, attempting to gain access to the roof and "dangle over the edge."
Minneapolis Police are hosting a press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss urban exploration issues in the city more broadly.
