Penn State student Katherine Ibanez died Friday night after falling down an elevator shaft in Atherton Hall.

Ibanez, 21, of West Palm Beach, Fla., was visiting with friends in the building at about 9:15 p.m. when the elevator stopped between the third and fourth floors, said Marianne Lorensen, residence life coordinator for Atherton Hall.

The elevator had an emergency bell, which the trapped students rang, Lorenson said. A resident assistant on Atherton Hall's third floor was aware the elevator had stopped and instructed the students not to pry open its door, Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

However, some of the seven students in the elevator pried the door open, and two of them jumped down to the third floor. Ibanez was the third person to attempt to exit the elevator. Lorensen said Ibanez slipped past the floor and fell about 40 feet down the elevator shaft.

"It doesn't appear to be an elevator problem. It appears to be a bad decision," Mahon said. "Nobody should ever try to crawl down an elevator shaft."

After Ibanez fell, the four other students still inside the elevator continued to exit it, Mahon said.

Penn State University Police were dispatched to the scene at 9:45 p.m. Officers found Ibanez critically injured at the bottom of the shaft, university police said.

University Ambulance Service, Mount Nittany Medical Center paramedics and Alpha Fire Company personnel worked to free Ibanez from the shaft. She was transported to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.

Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers said Ibanez died of blunt force trauma and ruled the manner of death accidental.

The elevator has been shut down until personnel from the Office of Physical Plant can determine whether it is safe, Lorensen said at a meeting held Saturday afternoon to inform Atherton Hall residents about the incident.

The elevator Ibanez fell from is one of two in Atherton Hall that students have access to. The elevator is one year old, Mahon said.

Lorensen said the elevator usually malfunctions about once every semester, but she would not characterize it as unsafe.

Penn State staff members have been offering counseling services to friends of Ibanez, Mahon said.

"It's a terrible tragedy. It's a senseless loss of life," he said. "Our hearts go out to the family. It never should have happened this weekend."

Kristin Colella contributed to this article.