UMass Student Falls To His Death

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By Justine Judge

A UMass student falls 17 floors to his death early Friday morning, leaving students in his residence hall in shock.

At 3:30 Friday morning, UMass Amherst police responded to a report of someone falling from a window on the 17th floor of the John Quincy Adams Residence Hall.

They found the victim on the ground and then went door to door in the dorm trying to figure out who it was.

Freshman Jordan Quinn talked to us on the 17th floor. The victim lived next to her room.

Quinn says the last time she saw him was around 8:30 Thursday night, "Liam hadn't come out of his room yet so they came and unlocked his room and then they knew that it was him."

UMass officials say the victim was 20 year-old Liam O'Donnelly from Hingham.

His suitemates say they didn't know much about O'Donnelly and it's scary to think he fell to his death only a few feet away, especially since the windows are so secure.

Quinn says, "There're screens on all the doors and the windows and they are all screwed in and bolted down."

No foul play is suspected at this point. O'Donnelly lived in a single room and did not have a roommate.

Quinn says, "We're all really close, we're close with our resident adviser too. So we all kind of stick together and help each other out and the school usually does a pretty good job with stuff like this. The police came and said that if we need anybody to talk to that there are faculty members that are here to help."

The case is currently under investigation by State Police.

Thursday, Nov 20 at 12:29 PM Rachel Taillon wrote ...

i went to high school with Liam. he transfered in our sophmore year at Norfork Aggie in Walepole MA. he was very quiet and kept to himself most of the time. when he did speak it was very quiet and shy. i am very sad to hear what happened to him and my heart goes out to his family.

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