Simone WilsonUpdated at the bottom: Cal/OSHA confirms that Lucero was taking down the MTV Movie Awards set, and says he may not have been wearing fall protection.
Originally posted at 1:05 p.m.
A young man who said on his Facebook that he was on the MTV Movie Awards set this week has died tragically in a 60-foot fall from scaffolding at the Gibson Ampitheatre, located at Universal CityWalk.
City News Service reports that 22-year-old Jose Lucero was rushed to the hospital around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, where he died soon after.
Lucero lists himself online as a stagehand for IATSE Local 33, a union that has worked with MTV in the past. The awards show took place on Sunday at the same amphitheater where Lucero died on Wednesday morning.
We have not been able to confirm that he was taking down the MTV set when he fell. However, his friend on Twitter writes: “R.I P JOSE LUCERO WHO DIED WHILE WORKIN ON MTV SET.” And Lucero apparently worked on the same set last year.
The victim's Facebook photos show he was assigned to many other high-profile L.A. events as well, including the Academy Awards and a Chris Brown concert at Staples. Here's a photo he says he took from above the Grammies:
“Grammy load out.”; Credit: Jose Lucero via Facebook
A representative for IATSE Local 33 will say only that Lucero's death is “under investigation.” We've contacted Cal/OSHA for its analysis of the incident.
Did you know the victim, or see what happened to him on Wednesday? Let us know.
Update: Peter Melton, a spokesman for Cal/OSHA (the state agency that investigates on-the-job fatalities), says Lucero's crew was hired to remove the MTV Movie Awards setup from the Gibson Amphitheatre.
“The deceased was a rigger for union Local 33,” says Melton. “He fell from an area above the stage — a grid of steel beams that are accessed by catwalks.”
Whereas the catwalks are protected by railings, this grid of beams at the center — called the “ozone” — is not. Melton says Lucero may not have been wearing the required fall protection when he entered this area. However, he later calls us back to say the “fall-protection thing is still under investigation.”
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.