Paul F. Gilligan III ’05, right, hoists the Straus Cup with his roommate and intramural co-secretary Stephen J. Robbins ’05 after Eliot’s victory on May 18, 2004.

Just two weeks after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College, Paul F. Gilligan III ’05 fell to his death early Friday morning from a sixth-floor window on New York’s Upper West Side.

Family and friends are considering the death to be accidental.

Gilligan, 22, fell from a 336 Central Park West apartment shared by his college roommate, Daniel L. Seltzer ’05, and Seltzer’s twin, Sarah M. Seltzer ‘05, who is also a Crimson editor. The Seltzer family was sleeping in the apartment when Gilligan fell to his death.

According to Gilligan’s father, Paul Gilligan Jr., Gilligan had been sleeping on an air mattress on the floor near a window with a low sill. Investigators surmise Gilligan lost his balance while opening the window, although there were no witnesses at the scene of the incident.

Gilligan, Daniel Seltzer, and college roommate Stephen J. Robbins ’05 had gone downtown Thursday evening to watch the NBA finals, according to Gilligan’s father. After the game, Gilligan and Seltzer walked 40 blocks back to the apartment.

They had been drinking beer, but were not visibly intoxicated in the apartment surveillance video taken as they returned shortly before 2 a.m., according to investigators.

Friends and family said that Gilligan seemed happy and that it was extremely unlikely that the fall was intentional.

“He wasn’t a depressed kid. Everything in his life was going extremely well,” his father, Gilligan Jr., said yesterday.

Gilligan’s body was found on an alley stairwell by a building worker at 6:30 a.m. It remains unclear at what time he fell out the window.

His friends were not aware that Gilligan had fallen until informed by investigators shortly after the body was discovered. Daniel Seltzer had risen earlier and noticed Gilligan’s absence but assumed he had gone for a morning run.

“It’s a tragic accident,” Gilligan’s father said. “There are some things in life that you can prepare for and guard against, and some things are like getting hit by lightning.”

Neither officers of the 24th Precinct nor representatives of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information would confirm reports, saying the investigation is ongoing. At press time, the medical examiner’s office had not released results from an autopsy conducted Saturday.

Those close to Gilligan remember his sense of humor, boundless energy, academic achievement, intelligence, and athleticism.

Before arriving at Harvard, Gilligan had already distinguished himself both academically and athletically.

A New Jersey native, he graduated first in his class at Haddon Township High School, earning all A’s while captaining the varsity baseball, basketball, and soccer teams.