Update (3:15 p.m. EST, 3/23/16):
“The man in the tree” has climbed down.
Evan Bush of the Seattle Times reports #ManInTree has come down from the tree just outside Macy's after staying in the tree a little more than 24 hours.
The Seattle Police Department says that the man is in custody and that he will get a medical evacuation.
Original Story:
A Seattle man has been at the top of an 80-foot Sequoia tree for a full day and won’t come down.
No one knows why the man climbed to the top of the tree outside Macy’s department store Tuesday morning, but as of Wednesday morning, the man is still up there. Seattle police have tried to converse with the man, but he will not respond.
Police say their main concern at this point is the man’s safety, especially since they believe he is suffering from some sort of a mental health episode. The man, however, is apparently not concerned with the safety of police. He is armed… with fruit.
Police have sectioned off an area around the tree because the man is reportedly throwing apples, orange peels, pine cones, and branches at authorities trying to get him down.
Evan Bush, a reporter for the Seattle Times, tweeted out the following:
The man is becoming somewhat of cult hero in the Seattle area. The hashtag #manintree is even trending on Twitter. People--and even a Washington State senator--are giving constant updates and their thoughts about “the man in the tree.”
Even Seattle’s “superhero” Phoenix Jones has shown up at the scene trying to get police to let him talk to the man.
We will be following this story to see if "the man in the tree" ever comes down and becomes "the man on the street."