Student falls to death at SF State

[j_shady]

San Francisco -- A San Francisco State University student died Saturday after falling from a residential building on campus.

Ivan Zimmerman, 21, of Pleasanton, apparently fell from an exterior stairway landing in the Village at Centennial Square residential building at about 10:50 p.m., said University Spokeswoman Ellen Griffin.

The sequence of events preceding his fall is unclear, Griffin said. He was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital at 11:22 p.m.

"He was observed to be drinking alcohol earlier in the evening,'' Griffin said. SFSU residences have a ban on parties, but the school does not ban alcohol. "Residents in fact face a steep fine if they violate it- $100 each,'' Griffin said.

Zimmerman was a student at SFSU, and lived in university-owned housing in the nearby Park Merced neighborhood, Griffin said. He did not live in the Village at Centennial Square. Though he had been a student at the university since 2002, he was not enrolled in classes this semester.

"Obviously we will be offering counseling services to students who may have been with him or witnessed it (his death),'' Griffin said.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner's office is leading the investigation into Zimmerman's death, Griffin said.