Disneyland is enhancing security measures at the multi-level parking facilities of the California theme park after the occurrence of the third suicide within the structures in the past year, as reported.
The park situated in Anaheim will boost security patrols for both cars and bicycles, deploying guards on top of the Pixar Pals and Mickey and Friends garages. This decision comes in the aftermath of an incident on November 15, where a man jumped to his death from the Pixar structure.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., Jonah Alexander Edwards, aged 24, plunged to his death from the six-story structure. This unfortunate incident occurred in the wake of previous suicides at the garages in February and December of 2022.
“In an effort to deter this type of tragedy, we have long had multilayered security protocols in place at our parking structures, which we have substantially enforced over time. “However, as with all of our security measures we don’t discuss specifics so as not to compromise our efforts,” as per a released statement by a Disneyland spokesperson.
Upon its opening in 2000, the Mickey and Friends garage, housing 10,000 spaces, claimed the title of the world’s largest, as reported by Disneyland News Today. Subsequently, the Pixar lot, inaugurated in 2019 and offering 5,500 spaces, came into existence. Since 2010, there have been six instances of deaths ruled as suicides occurring within these garages.
In February, a 46-year-old woman known as Marney Schoenfeld, an Arizona mother and accomplished hairstylist, tragically fell to her death from the Mickey and Friends.
In December, a 51-year-old elementary school principal leaped to his death in an incident classified as suicide by the police at the same garage, which held the title of the world’s largest parking structure upon its opening in 2000.
The individual who jumped was subsequently identified as Christopher Christensen, aged 51, a former elementary school principal confronting charges of child endangerment and battery.
