Teen who fell to his death after climbing 6th Street Bridge was not attempting stunt, father says

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said a 17-year-old boy who died over the weekend while climbing the 6th Street Bridge was taking part in an apparent social media stunt.

However, the teen's family is disputing that claim, saying the fall was simply a tragic accident.

Police were sent to the bridge around 2 a.m. Saturday and found the boy, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. The family identified him as Anthony Luna.

Anthony slipped and fell "when climbing upon one of the arches, in order to post, apparently, a social media broadcast," Moore said Tuesday during a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting.

On Thursday, Anthony's father, Paul Luna, expressed his frustration with Moore, saying he has seen video of the fall and said his son was not climbing the bridge to post it on any online sites.

"The chief of police, they're stating that Anthony did it for a video stunt of some sort, maybe likes or something, but that's 100% false," said the father, who spoke with ABC7 via Zoom. "He didn't even care about social media."

The father said his son didn't even have his phone on him at the time. He did point out, though, that with all the problems the city has had with people trespassing at the bridge, he's surprised little has been done to make the bridge safer.

"If they're so aware of all these things that are happening, we see that there's an issue here, what's the next step to prevent it?" asked Paul.

Moore has said his department has added patrols to the area over the past year to try to keep people from acting recklessly around the bridge.

Meanwhile, a small memorial for Anthony now sits under the 6th Street Bridge.

The 17-year-old was set to graduate from Condor High School in Oxnard but now the Luna family is planning his funeral.

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to help the family cover the costs.

"It's weird and mind-blowing how many people my son touched," said Paul. "He was a great kid, he is a great kid."

The bridge opened last July. The $588-million span, which replaced an 84-year-old Art Deco span, runs 3,500 feet over the concrete-lined L.A. River and connects downtown to the historic Eastside.

Police closed the bridge several times after it became a hotspot for street racing, graffiti and illegal takeovers soon after opening.

In one instance, video captured a barber cutting a person's hair in the middle of the bridge as cars passed by.

A man was also shot and killed on a pedestrian ramp of the bridge in January during an unauthorized filming of a music video.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.