52-year-old building inspector Ronald Wagenhoffer blamed himself for the deadly Philadelphia building collapse on Market Street last week and killed himself. The collapse left six deaths at a Center City work site last week.
“It was my fault. I should have looked at those guys working, and I didn’t,” Ronald Wagenhoffer said.
Shortly after claiming responsibility for the building collapse and filled with guilt, Wagenhoffer fired a bullet into her own chest, according to city officials. He left a video before taking his life, for his wife Michele and their son. Wagenhoffer died in his pickup truck one week after six people were killed, at 2136 Market St. in the Center City, according to NBC 10.
Ronald Wagenhoffer was a Philadelphia Licenses & Inspections worker. He was sent to a demolition site at 2134 Market St. on May 14. He reported that there were no anomalies. But he never inspected the adjacent work site even after a citizen revealed safety concerns. L&I reports show that Wagenhoffer inspected and passed 2136 Market St., the collapse site, on Feb. 25.
Shockingly, in the recorded suicide message Wagenhoffer admitted that he never even got out of his truck to even slightly examine the site.
“When I saw it was too late. I should have parked my truck and went over there, but I didn’t. I’m sorry,” he said in the video.
