Teen killed after 200 foot fall down Sleeping Giant

Hamden, Conn. (WTNH) - A teenager was killed when he fell 200 feet from the chin area of Sleeping Giant.

Rescue crews swarmed to Sleeping Giant State Park after a 911 call was placed Sunday evening. It is an emergency call all to familiar for Hamden firefighters, who often risk their own safety to wander out to the rocky areas to make a rescue.  

Originally, it was reported that after a Hamden High School student had fallen, he was diagnosed with multiple fractures, but was conscious at the scene.  

"We have a report that he was conscious when we got to him," said Chief David Bernardesca, Hamden Fire Dept., "he was actually waving to our people."

18-year-old Tobias Engel, whose father is a professor at Quinnipiac University, was hiking in an area known as "the chin" when he fell almost two hundred feet.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) tells News 8 Engel was pronounced dead at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Lynn Bushnell, vice president for public affairs at Quinnipiac University, wrote in a statement, "The university community was saddened to learn of the death of Tobias Engel, the son of Professor Len Engel, following a fall Sunday at Sleeping Giant State Park. Our condolences go out to Professor Engel and his family during this very difficult time."

"We are incredibly sad to hear of the passing of Tobias Engel," said the superintendent of the schools for Hamden, Frances Rabinowitz. "We were informed of his passing over the weekend, and we believed he was going to make it through his injuries. We are all very sad at this time."