A professor at Chestnut Hill College dove over a second-floor railing inside a building on campus during his class, killing him, police say.



Rudolf Alexandrov, 71, an adjunct professor teaching mathematics at the private four-year school, walked out of his class Wednesday afternoon, returned briefly, yelled some words and then ran to a railing overlooking the veranda, reports the Daily News.



Campus security was summoned and Alexandrov dove over the railing and hit the marble floor, some 20 to 30-feet below.

Alexandrov jumped in front of his students and his 56-year-old wife Olga Alexandrov. She also works as an adjunct professor at the college, reports the Daily News.



Philadelphia police called it a suicide.

"He had a history of depression," Lt. Robert Zaffino told the Daily News. "He had been having suicidal thoughts and mentioned harming himself in the past."

Abington Police Deputy Chief John Livingood told the Daily News that police went to Alexandrov's homeon July 29 when his wife reported him missing. He was found soon after walking around his neighborhood.

The college canceled classes and made counselors available to students and others at the school that was founded in 1924.

