Teenager dies in apparent social media stunt on Los Angeles bridge, police say

LOS ANGELES– A 17-year-old boy died over the weekend while climbing a Los Angeles bridge in an apparent social media stunt, police said.

Police were dispatched to the 6th Street overpass around 2am Saturday and found the boy, who was pronounced dead in a hospital. His name was not immediately released.

The teenager slipped and fell ‘while climbing one of the arches, apparently in order to post a social media broadcast,’ Police Chief Michel Moore told a commission meeting on Tuesday. Los Angeles Police Department.

The bridge opened last July. The $588 million span, which replaced an 84-year-old Art Deco span, spans 3,500 feet (1,066.80 meters) above the concrete-lined Los Angeles River and connects downtown- city ​​at the historic Eastside.

The bridge, which has thousands of LED lights and views of the Los Angeles skyline, is the largest and most expensive span ever built in the city. It was designed to become a landmark of the city.

But police closed the bridge several times after it quickly became a hotspot for street racing, graffiti and illegal takeovers that drew hundreds of onlookers to watch drivers perform dangerous stunts in their vehicles.

Stunts on social media also abounded – in one case, a man sat down in a barber’s chair for a haircut in the middle of the lanes.

A man was also shot and killed on the bridge in January during the unauthorized filming of a music video.

“Tragically, we see this place, while it’s created a lot of pride in Los Angeles, it’s also sadly served as the backdrop for tragedies like this,” Moore told the Police Commission. “Our additional patrols will continue at this location…to counter such reckless actions.”