Updated: 10/27/10 10:18 p.m.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) - A Notre Dame student died Wednesday after the video tower from which he was filming football practice fell over. The student has been identified as 20-year-old Declan Sullivan, of Long Grove.

CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports the speculation is that high winds are to blame for the freak accident that killed the young student.

The university said the accident occurred at the LaBar Practice Complex.

Sullivan was perched atop a hydraulic scissor lift at the football practice field, holding a video camera, when a wind gust perhaps as strong as 50 miles an hour caught the lift and toppled it, sending the student to his death. The lift came crashing down onto a street adjacent to the practice field.

Sullivan was transported to a South Bend hospital, where he died.

Notre Dame personnel examine a location where a tower used to video Notre Dame football practice blew over. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins said in a release. “Our hearts go out to the student’s family and friends and our prayers and profound sympathies are with them during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of someone so young is a terrible shock and a great sadness. Our entire community shares in the family’s grief.”

Sullivan, a junior, was working for the athletic department’s video crew. He was shooting video of football practice when he and the lift were sent flying.

It is believed that scissor lift was at full extension, 40 to 50 feet in the air, when it went down.

Sullivan was a marketing and film student at Notre Dame. He also wrote for the school student newspaper, The Observer.

The Fighting Irish, who host Tulsa this Saturday, canceled post-practice interviews after the accident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) – The University of Notre Dame will no longer use hydraulic lifts for filming football practices, after a 20-year-old student fell to his death during a windstorm in October.

Declan Sullivan, a student videographer was killed Oct. 27 of last year, when a scissor lift he was on toppled over while he was filming football practice. The National Weather Service reported gusts of up to 51 mph at the time.

In response, university officials said Tuesday that from now on, a remote video system will be used to tape practices.

The university says four cameras are being placed atop 50-foot-high poles. The system will be ready when spring practice opens March 23.

Sullivan, of Long Grove, tweeted his fears about the danger of the wind within an hour of his death.

“Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work… I guess I’ve lived long enough :-/” Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.

The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, “Holy f— holy f— this is terrifying.”

The school and state regulators are investigating the accident.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

The family of the Notre Dame student who died filming a Fighting Irish football practice when a hydraulic lift fell over last October is pleased the university is installing remote-controlled cameras to prevent a similar tragedy.

“The family thinks that’s a very wise course of action, very much a safer environment for their employees,” said Mike Miley, the uncle of Declan Sullivan.

Sullivan, a 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., died Oct. 27 when the hydraulic lift he was on fell while he was filming practice. The National Weather Service reported gusts of up to 51 mph at the time and the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating why the lift fell over.

Notre Dame said Tuesday that it will no longer use hydraulic lifts for videographers at football practices and began installing the cameras at the practice fields. Sullivan’s parents, Alison and Barry Sullivan, hopes other universities will take similar steps, Miley said.

“The family, specifically Barry, said he hopes other universities and sporting organizations take a look at their safety environments and follow Notre Dame’s lead to see if there are other ways to make life safer for workers in other areas as well,” he said.

Miley said he didn’t specifically talk to the family about Notre Dame putting shamrocks with the initials DS in the middle on the boxes holding the cameras, but said the family appreciated the team wearing those shamrocks with the initials on their helmets last season and appreciated seeing the insignia elsewhere.

“It is something the family noticed and enjoyed seeing. It was a good way to remember him,” Miley said.

Miley said the family is in talks with the university about a memorial for Sullivan. Miley said he doesn’t know what that will be. The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said Tuesday the school is “committed to memorializing Declan’s zest for life and presence at Notre Dame in a meaningful and lasting way.”

The family also is raising funds for a memorial for Sullivan, Miley said.

The family says on a website that Sullivan felt privileged to have a role with the football program.

“The grief we feel is tempered by the knowledge that Dec was doing what he loved in the place he most wanted to be,” they wrote.

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On the Net:

http://www.declandrummsullivan.org

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

UPDATED 03/15/11 5:13 p.m.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) – The University of Notre Dame has been fined $77,500 in the death of 20-year-old student Declan Sullivan, who was killed when a hydraulic lift fell.

Sullivan, a student videographer, was killed Oct. 27 of last year, when a scissor lift he was on toppled over while he was filming football practice. The National Weather Service reported gusts of up to 51 mph at the time.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Regine Schlesinger Reports

Indiana Department of Labor Commissioner Lori Torres said Tuesday that the school will be fined $55,000 for knowingly exposing Sullivan and two other videographers to unsafe conditions, and $22,500 for five other violations.

“We found Notre Dame did not establish and maintain conditions of work that were reasonably safe for its employees,” Torres said. “By directing its untrained student videographers to use the scissor lifts during a period of time when the National Weather Service had issued an active wind advisory for northern Indiana, the university knowingly exposed its employees to unsafe conditions.”

As CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports, after the fines were announced, Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins issued a statement that said, in part: “We will study the details very carefully and take the actions necessary to protect the ongoing safety of our students and staff.”

“None of these findings can do anything to replace the loss of a young man with boundless energy and creativity,” Jenkins added. “As I said last fall, we failed to keep him safe, and for that we remain profoundly sorry.”

Last week, the university said they will no longer mount students on hydraulic lifts to videotape football practice. University officials said from now on, a remote video system will be used to tape practices.

The university says four cameras are being placed atop 50-foot-high poles. The system will be ready when spring practice opens March 23.

Sullivan, of Long Grove, tweeted his fears about the danger of the wind within an hour of his death.

“Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work… I guess I’ve lived long enough :-/” Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.

The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, “Holy f— holy f— this is terrifying.”

Sullivan’s family issued a statement saying that they were focused on make sure a similar tragedy never happens again.

“Our family supports the efforts by the University of Notre Dame to halt the use of hydraulic lifts to film football practices and install remote-controlled cameras. We are confident that Notre Dame will address the additional issues raised in the IOSHA report,” they said.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Updated 4/18/2011 at 5:15 p.m.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) – The University of Notre Dame released a report Monday that they hope will finally put to rest the death of student Declan Sullivan last fall.

The 145-page report concluded that the football staff was using outdated weather reports when they decided to place Sullivan on a hydraulic scissor lift to videotape football practice, and staff did not know a wind advisory was in effect.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Bernie Tafoya Reports

Read The Report:

Sullivan, 20, was killed on Oct. 27, 2010, when the left he was standing on toppled over.

The university’s policy prohibited use of the lifts in wind gusts over 35 mph. Forensic examination of computers showed officials checked weather websites six times prior to allowing videographers to take the field.  They apparently had no idea that information was not updated minute by minute.

“Consequently, the data our staff accessed could have lagged real-time data by as much as an hour,” Notre Dame Executive Vice President John Affleck-Graves said at a Monday news conference.

The investigation revealed that had the final check been made just eight minutes later, data would have been updated showing that wind speeds had grown to dangerous levels and use of the lifts would have been cancelled.

The report also said the lift used, a Marklift brand model, tipped more easily than some other models. The height of the lift, and the simple fact of the wind itself, were also blamed for the accident.

But ultimately, the report said there was no one single cause to which the accident could be attributed.

In an open letter at the start of the report, Notre Dame president the Rev. John I. Jenkins said there also was no one single person who could be blamed for the accident.

“After a thorough and painstaking study in which numerous university personnel were interviewed and external experts consulted, we have reached the conclusion that no one acted in disregard for safety,” he wrote. “Each individual involved based his decisions and actions that day on the best information available at the time and in accord with the procedures that were in place.”

He said the university was collectively responsible given the inadequacy of the school’s safety regulations regarding high winds.

“The university, then, is collectively responsible,” Jenkins wrote. “Insofar as the President is responsible for the university as a whole, I am the individual who bears the most responsibility, and I accept that responsibility.”

Sullivan, of Long Grove, tweeted his fears about the danger of the wind within an hour of his death.

“Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work… I guess I’ve lived long enough :-/” Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.

The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, “Holy f— holy f— this is terrifying.”

Last month, the Indiana Department of Labor fined Notre Dame $55,000 for knowingly exposing Sullivan and two other videographers to unsafe conditions, and $22,500 for five other violations.

Also last month, the university said they will no longer mount students on hydraulic lifts to videotape football practice. A remote video system is now in use to tape practices, composed of four cameras atop 50-foot-high poles.

Sullivan’s family declined to comment on the report Monday.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) — A year has passed since Notre Dame student Declan Sullivan was killed when a hydraulic lift fell over in the wind, and now, his father is talking publicly about his son’s death.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports, Sullivan, 20, was videotaping a Fighting Irish football practice on Oct. 27, 2010, when the scissor lift he was atop blew over in a 53 mph wind gust.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports

Declan’s father, Barry Sullivan, and his wife, Alison, have not sued Notre Dame and do not intend to do so. He tells the Chicago Tribune that is not the way he and his wife are wired.

They intend to remember their son with positives, by working to educate people on the safe use of aerial lifts, the Tribune reported.

A memorial to Declan Sullivan has also been set up on the Notre Dame campus, with a plaque, two benches and some trees, the Tribune reported.

Sullivan’s death made headlines for weeks last year. The world saw the tweets he issued just before the fall.

Sullivan, of Long Grove, tweeted his fears about the danger of the wind within an hour of his death.

“Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work… I guess I’ve lived long enough :-/” Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.

The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, “Holy f— holy f— this is terrifying.”

This past summer, Notre Dame agreed to pay a $42,000 fine and make a substantial contribution to a memorial to settle a complaint that it committed six safety violations that led to the accident.

The settlement also required Notre Dame to launch a nationwide education program directed at other schools about the hazards of the outdoor use of scissor lifts.

In a 145-page report issued earlier this year, Notre Dame concluded that the football staff was using outdated weather reports when they decided to place Sullivan on a hydraulic scissor lift to videotape football practice, and staff did not know a wind advisory was in effect. The university’s policy prohibited use of the lifts in wind gusts over 35 mph.

CHICAGO (STMW) — A convicted felon has been charged with a Southeast Side shooting that left a 14-year-old with a stray bullet lodged in his spine as he waited for his school’s football practice to begin last fall.

Roosevelt Owens, 47, of the 10400 block of South Calhoun was ordered held without bond Tuesday after being charged with aggravated battery with a firearm for the Oct. 7, 2011, shooting in the 7700 block of South Kingston Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood, authorities said.

Police said gunfire rang out at 3:45 p.m., leaving 14-year-old Deonta Brown and a 31-year-old man in critical condition.

Brown was standing outside about a block from his home when an argument began nearby between two men, resulting in one of the men opening fire.

Prosecutors said Owens began shooting and struck the 31-year-old man eight times. Brown was walking nearby when he was struck.

Family members at the time said Brown suffered injuries to his pancreas and a major artery before the bullet lodged in his spine.

Owens was arrested Jan. 1 when police on their way out of South Shore Hospital smelled a strong odor of marijuana as he walked toward the ER, according to a police report.

Owens admitted he had been smoking marijuana earlier that day and erroneously told police his name was Charles East, the report said. They learned his real name when the woman he was with identified him as Owens. When the officers ran his name, they realized he was wanted for the October shooting.

Capricio Wilson, Brown’s football coach at Bradwell Elementary School, said at the time it appeared he knew neither of the men and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wilson said he learned about the shootings from two of his players, who were near Brown when he was shot.

Wilson described Brown as a “great kid” who dreamed of one day playing professional football.

Owens has a criminal history which includes convictions for aggravated battery, armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon, prosecutors said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)