A 19-year-old University of Wisconsin woman is currently in the hospital with a head wound after being struck by a picture frame that had fallen from a balcony early Saturday morning.
According to the police report, the woman had been walking behind a building on the 100 block of Langdon Street when she was hit in the head with the wooden picture frame, which had come from an upper balcony.
Sgt. June Groehler with the Madison Police Department confirmed the address of the house the picture frame fell from was 124 Langdon St., the location of the Kappa Kappa Sigma fraternity house. She could not comment further as to the woman’s condition or the nature of the incident.
The woman was taken to the hospital with a deep head wound after being struck. MPD officers are now investigating how the picture frame came to fall from the building, the report said.
The report did not state how or why the picture frame was on the balcony and fell off, or whether it was thrown.
Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, said he was not familiar with the incident but that, in general, there was a unique set of circumstances this weekend. The Mifflin Street Block Party took place Saturday, contributing to a large consumption of alcohol on campus.
Random incidents like this have a higher likelihood of taking place during types of events where heavy drinking does occur, Eagon added.
“Anytime you have thousands of people who consume a lot of alcohol converging in a small area, these events are more likely to occur,” Eagon said.
Eagon added heavy drinking does not excuse any incident like this, especially if the frame was in fact thrown.
Generally, injuries via objects falling from upper balconies are not a huge occurrence on campus, but they certainly can occur when people have been drinking, Eagon added.
He said it would be “obviously foolish and irresponsible” if the picture frame had somehow been thrown off of the balcony and had not just fallen off.
Conor Johnson of Kappa Kappa Sigma said the fraternity was not commenting on the situation, but are complying with the school and Madison authorities.
