STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University officials pledged to review all applicable policies surrounding the security of their facilities and prosecute future trespassers after a junior environmental economics and management major fell to his death Saturday.
MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter said the two students who scaled Davis Wade Stadium’s padlocked fence along with Andrew Scott Demboski, 21, of Ocean Springs, have not been charged in connection with the incident.
Charges are unlikely to come after Demboski fell about 20 feet from the stadium’s southern video board.
The university, Salter said, has reached out to Demboski’s family and offered counseling to those affected by his death.
“It seems like every graduation season the media talks about stories where there is such an incredible waste of a promising future. We felt like Andrew had that kind of future,” Salter said. “All of us here share the real grief of his loss, because he had it all out there in front of him. He wasn’t a good student; he was an outstanding student. At this time, our focus is supporting the Demboski family and their loved ones, and that includes these two friends that witnessed the tragedy.”
In an effort to ward off thrill-seekers from its facilities, Salter said the university will lean heavily on existing law.
“This is going to be our time to be compassionate. The next time we have someone cross that fence, trespass and put other people in danger … then the university intends to react strongly, forcefully and to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “Students sometimes make poor decisions, and sometimes the consequence of those decisions are horrific. That was certainly the case early Saturday morning.
“We’re going to educate our faculty, students, staff and the community … that the (stadium) is locked for a reason,” Salter added. “There are a lot of places in there where you can get hurt in the dark. On the night in question, (the stadium’s perimeter) was securely locked.”
On Saturday, the three MSU students obtained access to the southern video board via a maintenance access point, Salter said. From there, they climbed a series of ladders and reached the top of the structure through a service hatch.
The door accessing the maintenance area “should have been locked,” Salter said, but the university was unable to confirm if it was Saturday.
“We have a number of people … in and out of that area for different reasons at different times,” he said. “If you provide a secure perimeter that you feel like locks the facility down – maybe that hasn’t been on the top of the mind as we needed it to be, but I assure you moving forward now that we’ve been through this, it certainly will be. The most dangerous thing we can do at this point is say, ‘Absolutely, it was locked.’ Now that we’ve had to confront this reality, you can bet … there will be an enhanced process to check on it.”
Demboski stepped on a portion of the roof not designed to support a person’s weight, Salter said, and fell through the structure. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt said Demboski suffered severe head trauma from the accident.
MSU Police Department received an emergency call at 1:37 a.m. Saturday. First responders gained access to the stadium by cutting through a padlock securing the southern fence, Salter said, and then faced issues reaching the victim.
A Starkville Fire Department ladder truck could not reach Demboski, and first responders began constructing a basket and pulley system in an effort to transport the victim to an awaiting medical helicopter stationed at the Junction.
Demboski, however, went into cardiac arrest before he could be transported from the scene and was pronounced dead at almost 3 a.m.
MSU’s policy evaluation will also include reviews of rules and procedures for “other architectural oddities” present on campus, Salter said, including older tunnels located under the Drill Field.
Salter reiterated the university’s sadness and grief over “the tragic accident.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and classmates,” he said.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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