Posted Sept. 27 at 12:06 a.m.
A large branch broke off a tree and crashed onto the quad, injuring a student outside of the Batelle-Tompkins building Monday around 3:30 p.m., witnesses said.
The student was transported by ambulance to an area hospital. Public Safety officers did not comment on the extent of the student's injuries.
Steven Piels, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs who witnessed the event, said the student appeared to be unable to move by himself but was able to speak.
Students didn't know how to react when the branch fell, according to witness Billy Spagnuolo, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business.
"They didn't know what to do, I didn't want to hurt him or anything, but everyone ran over there and moved him," he said.
Spagnuolo said others were hit with falling branches.
"Only like small branches," he said. "It hit me in the feet."
Spagnuolo said he didn't hear the branch cracking because he was wearing headphones, but others did.
"You heard the sound first, it sounded like fire works, like an explosion almost," said Dave Pomeroy, a sophomore in the School of International Service who saw the tree fall.
