Man climbs east Tulsa tower

Police fired pepper balls at him about 5:20 a.m. Friday

Update

About 5:20 this morning, Tulsa Police took more aggressive action by firing pepper balls, or powdered pepper spray, at the suspect.

Police say the suspect has been toying with officers with his feet dangling and climbing even farther up the tower.

He has been on the tower since about noon yesterday.

He was given a cellphone, food and something to drink yesterday.

A plastic sack with those items has been hanging from the tower.

Rick Umstead with the American Red Cross has been at the scene all night.

"I am concerned for him and his safety. I can't imagine anybody wanting to go up the tower and just stay there. I mean, he could easily fall and from a safety perspective he could kill himself and that's not something that we'd like to see."

Police say the man does have a history of mental illness and they know exactly who he is.

We don't know who he is or why he did it, but a man spent Thursday afternoon climbing a tower near 27th and Memorial.

Emergency responders were on the scene, trying to coax the man to come down.

Witnesses say he was at least two-thirds of the way up the tower, roughly 200 feet.