Officials at San Francisco’s Chase Center, the home of the Golden State Warriors, are assuring fans that the venue is safe after one man died and two people were injured in separate incidents at a Phish concert Sunday.
Though more details about how and why the injuries occurred are still under investigation by the San Francisco Police Department, multiple accounts of the episodes were posted to social media by other concert-goers who suggested two people fell from the arena’s upper levels roughly an hour apart.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Medical Examiner identified the man who died in the first incident around 8:55 p.m. as 47-year-old Ryan Prosser of Athens, N.Y.
Warriors and Chase Center spokesperson Kimberly Veale told The Chronicle that officials at the venue are awaiting the “findings of proper authorities” to determine what happened before commenting on the incidents.
Police said there is no evidence of foul play.
“Chase Center was built and is operated in accordance with all safety standards and requirements governing facilities of its kind in the state of California and the city and county of San Francisco,” Veale said.
A concert headlined by the country music duo Dan + Shay is scheduled for Wednesday, followed by the Warriors home opener on Thursday and a two-night stint by the Eagles on Friday and Saturday.
Johnny Greavu had gotten tickets in the upper deck for the sold out Dead and Co. show at Chase Center on New Year’s Eve, 2019, but left that concert early “because I was so freaked out at how steep it was,” he said Tuesday. “Those railings are only waist high.”
Vowing to never again buy upper deck tickets at Chase, he was in section 116, the lower level, mid-row, mid-court, with seven friends at Phish. It was 8:50 p.m., almost an hour into the first set. The band was playing “Destiny Unbound.”
“We heard a large thump, a big bang,” said Greavu, 29. We thought someone fell from a few rows behind us. We were all looking around. Then we look and there is a body in front of us.”
The victim had clipped the shoulders of two friends sitting in front of Greavu.
“He fell on seats that were’ thank god, unoccupied,” Greavu said. “He covered at least two of them and one was broken. I’m struggling to get the image out of my head. I think he died on impact because he didn’t move at all.”
Someone ran up the steps to the concourse and came back with two uniformed police officers followed by a medic. The band played on and the light show stayed on through the next song. Soon the body was removed and a tarp placed over the landing spot. Greavu and his seven friends left section 116.
“We were walking around at intermission and most people weren’t aware of it,” Greavu said. “I debated leaving but ended up staying though I couldn’t really enjoy the show.”
Dan Fitzsimmons of Kelseyville, who sat in the 219 section of the arena during Sunday’s concert, said he saw a man…
Read More News: Fans at S.F. Phish concert recount fear as man fell to his death at Chase Center
