NT police investigate death in care after man falls from Alice Springs Hospital window
The ABC understands the Indigenous man smashed through a second storey window and either jumped or fell from the window in the hospital's surgical ward.
NT police said officers responded to reports of an injured 29-year-old man at the hospital around 1pm on May 20.
A spokesperson later confirmed the man "succumbed to his injuries" on May 23.
"Police are investigating the incident as a death in care on behalf of the coroner," they said in a statement.
"Any further questions are best directed towards NT Health and the coroner's office."
Southern Watch Commander James Gray-Spence told ABC Radio Alice Springs he couldn't say much about the case because it was a death in care.
However he said the man had been linked to a "disturbance" in the Alice Springs suburb of East Side on May 14, in which a man allegedly jumped onto a vehicle.
"Given that it's within the realms of a week, six days in between those incidents, that will form part of the factors for consideration of that investigation," Commander Gray-Spence said.
Commander Gray-Spence said a person had been taken into custody after the May 14 incident but would not confirm if it was the same man who died at the hospital more than a week later.
He said the man was not in police custody at the time of his death.
The ABC put several questions to NT Health about the circumstances of the man's death but a spokesperson said it was "unable to provide comment due to patient confidentiality".
"The matter is also being investigated by police on behalf of the coroner," they said.
Health Minister Steve Edgington was also contacted for comment.
An NT government spokesperson responded with: "This is a tragic and deeply distressing situation for the family involved and our thoughts are with them."
As the incident is being treated as a death in care, it will trigger a mandatory coronial inquest.
The investigation comes as NT police investigate two deaths in police custody, which will also come before the coroner.
One is the death of Kumanjayi White, who died after being restrained by plain-clothed police at an Alice Springs supermarket on May 27.
The other is the death in custody of a Wadeye elder, who died in Royal Darwin Hospital on Saturday, a week after he was detained by federal police at Darwin airport.
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