Man falls from third-floor Mall of Georgia balcony

A man was injured when he fell from the third-floor balcony at the Mall of Georgia on Sunday afternoon, plunging to the food court on the first floor in front of several witnesses, Gwinnett police said.

Gwinnett County fire units responded to the scene and transported the man to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville. The fire department said the man was in serious condition but alert and breathing after he fell.

It’s the same location where two other people have jumped and died several years ago in separate events, but it appeared that this case may have been an accident, police said.

“We don’t know,” said Gwinnett Police Sgt. Rich Long. The incident, which occurred about 1:15 p.m., is still under investigation. Authorities did not release the injured man’s name.

Long said the man, in his early 40s, bought a ticket at the Regal Cinemas and sat on a third-floor rail near the theater. When a theater employee approached him to get off the railing, he fell.

The man hit the second floor on the way down, which may have saved his life.

“That was a lucky enough impact,” said Long, that it turned the man’s body so that he wasn’t immediately killed when he hit the first floor.

There was no immediate word on his condition.