Police say that what happened yesterday at the Palisades Center mall in the suburbs of New York City was a terrible accident. Residents from a nearby group home for developmentally disabled adults were on a trip to the local mall, and somehow––nobody knows quite how yet––one of the residents fell over a third-floor railing, landing at the bottom of an escalator near the Best Buy store. He died on the scene.

The group was on a trip meant to get people with developmental disabilities out in the community, called “habilitation.” Police hadn’t yet announced the identity of the man or of the group home as of late last night, since his family had not yet been identified. “The safety of the individuals in our care is paramount and we are doing everything we can to help determine what led to this terrible accident,” a statement from the social services agency that runs the home, New York Foundling, said in part.

Police say that the man had been standing near a railing next to the escalator bank on the third floor, near Best Buy. Then he wasn’t. Shoppers made a flurry of calls to 911 to report the accident. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe that he fell, rather than jumping or being pushed, but they will investigate.

Group home resident falls to death in Palisades Center mall [Journal News]

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