An Air Force service member died after suffering injuries during a pregame ceremony at a University of Texas at San Antonio football game.
The Air Force confirmed that the service member was injured Saturday before UTSA faced Navy at San Antonio’s Alamodome and later died.
Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs said the individual, assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, was taken to a nearby hospital, where the service member died.
According to witnesses who spoke with KENS 5, the service member fell while rappelling from the ceiling of the Alamodome during the ceremonial presentation before kickoff.
Authorities have not said what caused the fall. The service member received medical treatment on the field before being transported to a hospital, and the stadium observed a moment of silence. The game was delayed but eventually resumed. The person’s identity has not been released, although Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas confirmed the assignment to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
The UTSA-Navy matchup was part of the university’s annual Salute to Armed Forces Veterans game.
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UTSA said in a statement shared on Instagram that it was “deeply saddened by the incident.”
“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues. We recognize that members of our campus community may be emotionally affected by this incident and are activating wellbeing services to support our faculty, staff and students,” the university wrote.
Following the game, the American Athletic Conference expressed its condolences to the service member’s family and fellow military personnel in a Facebook post. The conference said it had spoken with representatives from UTSA and Navy, Alamodome officials and local authorities while reviewing the information available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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