ANAHEIM, CA - DECEMBER 03: General views of the Walt Disney 'Partners' statue at Disneyland on December 03, 2022 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Over the weekend, a principal at a Huntington Beach elementary school jumped to his death at Disneyland, according to the Washington Examiner.
On Saturday, December 3, at about 9 p.m. a call was made to the Anaheim Police that a man was jumping from a Disneyland parking structure, according to Fox11. The death was ruled a suicide and the man was identified as 51-year-old Christopher Christensen who was a principal at William T. Newland Elementary School in Huntington Beach, California and had spent 22 years working as a principal at other schools in the area.
That same evening a message was posted to his Facebook leaving answers to questions his friends and family may be asking, including revealing that he was secretly married 3 1/2 years ago, and that a heated argument between him and her landed him in jail two weeks ago. He says that his wife allegedly accused him of hitting her and touching her children. Claims he denies. He also revealed that he was placed on administrative leave due to this matter and on the “brink” of loosing his job, which led to his decision to commit suicide.
So, here I am…writing my final FB post to all of you. I need you all to know that a gentle, kind, loving and sincerely good man has been destroyed by one unfortunate night. It really is unfortunate! This is NOT me! This is NOT something that I ever thought would happen to me.
Christensen faced child endangerment and battery charges and was due in court today for a pretrial hearing. Los Angeles Daily News reported that he pleaded not guilty to both of those charges.
One of the final things he left on his Facebook page was a message of how he would like his friends and family to approach life in the future,
Please, please, please be kind to one another! Treat each other with kindness and grace. There is too much anger in the world and people need to start treating each other better.
Jude Demorest, from Star on FOX, took to her Instagram Story to express her thoughts about the situation stating that it was “sickening” and questioning his choices about doing this at Disneyland.
That school principal who jumped to his death at Disneyland was sick and there is a massive difference between suffering and wanting to give up and doing something to end your life in order to CAUSE suffering and push those around you.
Quite a few agreed with her and thought that Disneyland wasn’t the best place for this to happen.
Others had mixed feelings and believed his version of events that were posted to his Facebook page.
His wife has not yet come out to speak about the suicide or her version of the events that took place two weeks ago that were expected to be addressed at trial.
If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 (Crisis Text Line). As of July 2022, those searching for help can also call 988 to be relayed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
