Police said it appears Jinah took a running start to try to spit further than his two friends when he unintentionally vaulted himself over the balcony railing.
"It was purely accidental," said Ottawa police Sgt. Joe Simpson. "Momentum carried him beyond."
Police said alcohol was being consumed at the party.
Apartment building security guard Jason Armstrong, who was working Saturday night, said he heard a thud and immediately knew something was wrong.
PEOPLE SCREAMING
"Two ladies came in and started screaming for me to call 911," said Armstrong, adding a group of about eight of Jinah's emotional friends rushed to his side.
Armstrong, who had known Jinah for about eight months, said he was surprised to learn the circumstances surrounding his death.
"He was one of the smartest, most polite guys I ever met in my life," he said. "I think he was one of the classiest guys. He had a maturity beyond his age."
Armstrong said Jinah always made a point to stop and chat on his way into the building and seemed to make friends easily.
"I'm going to miss him around here," said Armstrong.
His roommate, Eric Hwang, was too distraught to comment on what happened.
Family members said Jinah was in his second year at Carleton.
Last year, Jinah acted as the first-year representative for the Carleton Student Engineering Society.
He had returned to Ottawa from Belleville, where he was visiting his family, only hours before his death, his grandfather said yesterday.
"When he got to Ottawa he called and said, 'Papa, I'm here and I'm all right,' " he said.
Family members, including Jinah's father Alnoor, travelled to Ottawa yesterday
He could have somehow survived the fall. He would be now be on an eight week waiting list for the one outdated old CAT Scanner in Ottawa available for the general public.
The politicians have their own personal state-of-the-art scanners at the National Defense Hospital. Sorry socialist elite only, no peons allowed!