College Student Who Died Scaling Four Seasons' Roof Was Not A Hotel Guest

The 20-year-old New Jersey resident who fell to his death while trying to take photographs from the Four Seasons Hotel in Midtown had managed to access the very top of the 52-story building.

Connor Cummings was pronounced dead on Thursday night, just before midnight. The NY Times reports that he and the friend "took the elevator to the top floor of the 52-story hotel, and then climbed up several flights of stairs onto the roof."

There they gained access to a fenced-off area that contained cooling equipment and fans surrounded by ladders leading to metal catwalks.

After clambering up a 25-foot ladder to the catwalk area, the pair began taking photos using hand-held cameras, police officials said. Around 11:15 p.m., as rain was falling over Manhattan, Mr. Cummings stepped back and fell through an opening in the floor of the catwalk, where the ladder joined with the landing.

His friend, 18, told investigators he heard a bang and found Mr. Cummings’s body on the roof 25 feet below the catwalk.

Sources told the paper that Cummings was trying to take a panoramic photograph from the roof.

The friend, identified by the New York Post as Dimiriti Oliveras, has not been charged. Neither Oliveras nor Cummings were hotel guests. The Post adds that Oliveras initially left the scene: "A frightened Oliveras then climbed down the ladder and upon seeing his lifeless friend, fled the roof and hopped in a taxi cab — but he only got 10 blocks before he second-guessed his decision to bail, sources said." A relative of his said, "The kid’s traumatized."

Cummings, who graduated from Morris Knoll High School in Rockaway, NJ, was a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity there issued a statement:

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our brother, Connor Cummings. Connor was a sophomore Psychology major and had served as our chapters Historian, Assistant Recruitment Director and Social Media Chair. Brother Cummings had a fiery passion for photography and his love for this hobby was illustrated through his beautiful works of art.

Connor was someone who would stop to help someone without any questions and was always committed in getting the job done. Our chapter will miss him greatly, but we know that he is watching over us all.

Rest in Peace, Brother.