MANHATTAN, NY – A 33-year-old man from Manhattan is facing potential criminal charges after jumping into the North Pool at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum on Monday afternoon. The man, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, survived the leap with a leg injury, according to local law enforcement.
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. when a Port Authority officer noticed the man jumping into one of the two tiered reflecting pools at the memorial site. The officer immediately descended to rescue the man, as per police and law enforcement sources.
A video circulating on social media, previously known as Twitter, captured the man lying in the 18-inch-deep water of the pool’s central basin. The footage shows him sliding head-first and plummeting 20 feet into the lower part of the pool, causing onlookers to gasp in shock.
The man sustained an injury to his left leg during the fall and was transported to Bellevue Hospital. He is currently in stable condition and under police custody. The motive behind his actions remains unclear.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum features two reflecting pools that mark the original locations of the Twin Towers, which were tragically destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each pool has a 30-foot waterfall that cascades into an acre-sized basin, which then flows into a smaller opening in the center, dropping another 20 feet. The site is open to the public, and access to the grounds, including the reflecting pools, is unrestricted.
This is not the first incident of this nature at the memorial site. Sources reveal that last month, a potential jumper was dissuaded from jumping into the South Pool. Last year, another individual jumped into the North Pool, although details of that incident remain undisclosed.