ABILENE, Texas — A 28-year-old Dyess Air Force Base airman died after a fall from the top floor of Abilene’s First Financial Bank building’s parking garage, where he had been taking photos and videos with other motorcycle riders.
The Abilene Police Department said officers responded to an injured subject call at around 1:15 p.m. Sunday at the corner of Pine and North 4th streets.
Officers found Alexander Shute, 28, laying in the roadway on North 4th, near the Pine Street intersection. Shute, a motorcycle rider, had reportedly been in the parking garage with four other riders taking photos or videos when police say he “flew over the top floor/level retaining wall, going airborne, and landing on the roadway down below.”
He was taken by ambulance to the hospital with severe injuries caused by the fall. Shute was then taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth because of the severity of his injuries and the critical nature of his condition, APD said.
The parking garage is open to the public on weekday evenings and on weekends. The riders told police they were there shooting photos and videos on their motorcycles when the incident happened.
APD said its Traffic Division is investigating the incident. No citations have been issued.
Shute’s next of kin have been notified.