OAKLAND, Calif. -- Attempts to coax a woman off the top of the Tribune Tower in Oakland by bystanders and police were unsuccessful and the woman jumped to her death, said a columnist for the Oakland Tribune, who witnessed the event.

According to a police spokesman a person committed suicide at 1:50 p.m. by jumping from the seventh floor of the Oakland Tribune Tower at 401 13th St. in the heart of downtown Oakland.

Peggy Stinette was in the Oakland Tribune newsroom on the sixth floor of the adjacent tower when the incident occurred.

She said she saw papers falling from the sky and looked out the window to see shop owners across the street yelling to the woman not to jump.

A reporter went up to the woman and tried to get her to come down, but was unsuccessful, said Stinette. Police report that officers also tried to coax the woman down.

She said the woman remained sitting on the roof at the seventh floor level for about 45 minutes. Just as police began cordoning off the street, Stinette said that the woman suddenly jumped off the building.

Stinette said she doesn't believe the woman worked in the building, and was surprised that the woman was able to find her way onto the roof area as the tower is difficult to navigate with to connected buildings and two sets of elevators.

Stinette said grief counselors were brought in to the Tribune newsroom after the incident.

This is the first time that someone has jumped off the tribune building in the six years Stinnete worked in the building, she said.