BREAKING: Person Dies After Jumping from Downtown Building

@ brandoni - The police and witnesses are saying that this event was an accidental fall, not a jump. People, please don't get so drunk that you fall off of parking garages. Jeebus.

Someone else decided to jump off a parking garage early this morning after the bars closed. Garage between 7th and 8th on the Trinity side. Jumped ~2:30am is everyone was going home from downtown. Images of the body allowed me about 30 minutes of sleep.

Xast'sSister: Your brother could have taken his life in a different way but he chose do it in a fashion that garnered much attention and needlessly caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people. I'm sorry for your loss but you're just one victim among many. Your brother may have been a great person but he went out like a jerk.

So here it goes...

Michael was a great person. May we please let him rest in peace. Please.

Wes, please stop writing horrible things about my brother. He was more troubled than you can ever imagine. This is hard to deal with by itself. For my sake, don't post anymore negative comments.

Please guys, no more mean things. I can't deal with it.

I'm begging you, only positive commentary.

sorry about the double

this may be old news now that few of us still care about but...........there has been much misinformation about this. my 2 cents........his given name was michael. mike had asperger's syndrome a form of autism, he was also bipolar so aside from swings from mania to depression, it directly effected the frontal lobe needed for reason and judgment the family struggled for years to keep him on medication, productive and alive. the name xast was part of a created character of a 14 year old, this character was powerful and magical and an escape for mike from the intolerant harsh world around him. mike met a fella who convinced him that he could beat his disorder's without medication. it was exactly what he wanted to hear, the meds clouded his thinking. mike scored an above 160 iqIIIQ6th grade.the drugs slowed him down and frustrated his genius. unfortunately he moved to ausAAustin relied on people who found him entertaining when he was manic and delusional but not so much when he was depressed and delusional. we tried to keep him here, but as an adult and not showing symptoms that would allow commitment our hand were tied. mike didn't decide to jump, it wasn't a selfish act. he suffered greatly as a man with serious mental illness gone untreated. he wasn't a sane or lucid man who couldn't face the consequences of mistakes. i'm sorry to all the innocents who witnessed or were traumatized mickey's suicide but i must say the family is truetrulyidevastated.

this may be old news now that few of us still care about but...........there has been much misinformation about this. my 2 cents........his given name was michael. mike had asperger's syndrome a form of autism, he was also bipolar so aside from swings from mania to depression, it directly effected the frontal lobe needed for reason and judgement. mike's family struggled for years to keep him on medication, productive and alive. the name xast was part of a created character of a 14 year old, this character was powerful and magical and an escape for mike from the intolerant harsh world around him. mike met a fella who convinced him that he could beat his disorder's without medication. it was exactly what he wanted to hear, the meds clouded his thinking. mike scored an above 160 iq in 6th grade.the drugs slowed him down and frustrated his genius. unfortunately he moved to austin and relied on people who found him entertaining when he was manic and delusional but not so much when he was depressed and delusional. we tried to keep him here, but as an adult and not showing symptoms that would allow commitment our hand were tied. mike didn't decide to jump, it wasn't a selfish act. he suffered greatly as a man with serious mental illness gone untreated. he wasn't a sane or lucid man who couldn't face the consequences of mistakes. i'm sorry to all the innocents who witnessed or were traumitized by mikey's suicide but i must say the family is truely devistated.

My heart goes out to Michael's family and friends.

I agree with plenonymous, suicide is an extremely selfish and rageful act and should not be glorified. A couple of my friends chose this path and the devastation to their families is awful. The murderer of their child is their child, I can't even fathom their pain. I really believe that my friends would have chosen a different path had they any clue the pain and destruction they would cause. I also work at the building that he jumped from and it was a terrible event & it was wrong for him to involve us.

Most people who commit suicide vocalized the act before doing it. People need to take it seriously and get their friends or family help. There are tons of places willing and able to help. www.nami.org is one. This death was needless.

Why are you romanticizing something so incredibly selfish?

Why did I have to see his smashed body on the pavement? I didn't know him, and most likely wouldn't want to know him.

Why didn't he choose to make that stupid choice in one of your workplaces, or better yet your houses if your so fine with it?

I am not entirely without sympathy, but it was his choice. Maybe you and your friends could come clean the pavement that still bares the result of his choice? i still have to see it on my way to work, and am reminded of it. Maybe you could send the owner of the car the amount of the deductible. For all you know, that person could be in dire financial times, as so many are. maybe that was $500 that was to go into their kids college fund?

sorry for the rant.

Evidently, acid is still all the rage.

"Xast isnt dead because you cant kill an angel"

You may not be able to kill an angel but chubby 26 year olds falling 10 or 20 stories at 9.8 m/s/s make a big mess.

Isniss: Xast had a wonderful view of the pavement. The stars? No so much.

"Your (sic) not fully clean, and smooth unless your Xast fully clean." - Xast

That's some deep fucking wisdom there kids. I'm thinking about putting is on a t-shirt. Loller.

You know Id love to tell off each one of you that talk bad about Xast, cause he was a much better person then anyone could ever been and is still even after what happened so much better then Beazley, Wes and "Dr. Girlfriend". Anyone who ever met Xast is a better person for knowing him. He was a wonderful person and in my opinion, which so far most of his "cult" agrees with me, Xast isnt dead because you cant kill an angel which is exactly what he was. Cause no one could have that much love for people and not be an Angel. And as much as Id love to tell off the idiots that said those things about him, I know he wouldnt want me to. I know he didnt go to hell for there isnt such a place. Anyone who says he went to hell is an idiot cause theres no way a person as good as Xast could go anywhere but Heaven or Sumerland. Im going to stop and look at the stars a little from now on like he always asked me to do. I am a better person for knowing him, and being loved by him. I know all of us that have been with him at any point in time can say the same.

Xast is and will always be a very good friend to me and will be near and dear to my heart. He brought me and my fiance together and introduced us. I went to his Wake and His funeral. I will visit him often. The man has a wonderful view now of the stars which as he would say we all come from stardust. Anyone that wants to try and belittle or comment about someone's 500 dollar deductible can stfu. Its money, the guy/gal can deal.

Xast was a great friend and no childish insults about insurance will ever tarnish his name. Wes you are a child, learn to grow up. Those who have no respect for others deserve none.

To those of you that were there at the wake and funeral and to those that keep him in mind and thought I praise you, he was truly one of a Kind.

Now I leave you with a little quote from Xast, "Your not fully clean, and smooth unless your Xast fully clean."

The building he chose is cursed. I work there, truth.

Beazley hit it on the head. While Xast's suicide was a selfish dick move (he could have done it any number of other ways that wouldn't have destroyed property or made a mess), soooo many of his clove-smoking coffee-guzzling I-talk-to-flowers disciples seemed to note how depressed he was and how "concerned" they were about him...but apparently not concerned enough to get him some help. What shitty friends! I'm glad I know my friends would be there for me.

Suicide is never the answer. Maybe if his friends were there for him instead of drinking coffee or playing D&D he could still be around. He is not in a better place. He is in hell.

I take the #10 over there sometimes. Does anyone know if that's his blood all over one of the walls of the parking garage and if so, why hasn't it been cleaned up yet?

such is the nature of suicide, friend

I'm serious as a heart attack. Going out like that was a dick move. "Xast" ruined someone's car, created a giant mess for some poor public servant to clean up, and traumatized everyone who witnessed his suicide and its aftermath. Add that to the pain that "Xast" inflicted on his family and friends and it's clear that his suicide was an extremely selfish act.

Wes, If your comment is some type of April Fool joke it is in bad taste. If it is not, then you are truly one of the most coldhearted people I have ever run across. I hope you do not behave this way in the the real world.

What an asshole. I feel sorry for the guy who owns the Altima that "Xast" smashed because he's out the $500 deductible on his auto insurance. I also feel bad for the clean up crew that had to scrape up "Xast's" remains.

Michael McCole

Xast...Michael used to live in St. Louis, MO. He was indeed well loved as well as having an incredible love for those around him. His being mourned here in Missouri where his "coffe house" friends will miss him.

meletique, many healing and comforting vibes coming to you.

He was Xast. He was 26 years old. He was my boyfriend and he wasn't identified officially until Saturday. He was an incredible person, moreso than the usual "so and so was a great person now that they're dead". He truly was a wonder. He was very troubled, but he loved the line that fit him best:

"I am as damned as I seem and have more heaven than a heart could hold". He was also a Thelemite and believed in 93/93 (Love is the law, Love under Will). He was beautiful and as tragic as this has been, he died happy.

Zast. The young guys nickname, Zast.

Get to work you twittering bozos.

@wacoreporter yes, most certainly not a joke, but the story has been withheld from most news sites (apart from what @sheeshoo linked)

sadly, it is not a joke.

I just saw it on Fox 7: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/032609_Man_Falls_from_Building_Downtown

It was a "Breaking News" item on statesman.com earlier today, but possibly suicide stories are touchy.

What's the deal. No news outlets have this. Is this some kind of joke?