After Penn State student Timothy Piazza fell down the basements steps at Beta Theta Pi Thursday night, police say members of the fraternity did not call police for nearly 12 hours — until 10:49 a.m. Friday morning.

When patrol officers responded, Piazza was taken by ambulance to Mt. Nittany Medical Center and later flown to Hershey Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning.

Beta Theta Pi released a statement today on the chapter’s website indicating the chapter has been “temporarily suspended” by both Penn State and the national Beta Theta Pi fraternity during the “period of investigation.”

Investigation of the incident is active and ongoing. The State College Police Department said members of the fraternity are cooperating with the investigation. Police are obtaining video from inside the fraternity house Thursday night. The department is also working closely with Penn State Student Affairs.

You can read the full statement released by Penn State’s Alpha Upsilon chapter of Beta Theta Pi below.

Our chapter is mourning the loss of Tim Piazza, a student who recently accepted an invitation to join our fraternity. It is believed that Tim’s death stemmed from an accidental injury sustained from a fall in the chapter house. We are working closely with our General Fraternity to determine how this happened, and are fully cooperating with police and Penn State administrators in their own investigations. While additional statements and information will be released once confirmed, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time.

Both the University and General Fraternity have temporarily suspended chapter operations during this period of investigation.

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Elissa Hill

Elissa is a senior public relations major and the managing editor of Onward State. She is from Punxsutawney, PA [insert corny Bill Murray joke here] and considers herself an expert on all things ice cream. Send questions and comments via e-mail ([email protected]) and follow her on Twitter (@ElissaKHill) for more corny jokes.