I think it’s much more reasonable as you describe it. The police quote in the Wiki article says: “At this Friday night party, Mr. Hoy did it again and bounced off the glass the first time. However, he did it a second time and this time crashed right through the middle of the glass.” Meanwhile, the lawfirm spokesperson said the window “popped out”.
Either way, glass cladding isn’t designed for a 160 lb guy to be running across the room and slamming into it. 24 floors is a long way down to be thinking: “Doh!”
About the pre-med student: apparently some of the residences on our campus have windows that don’t open at all above the first floor–because so many people tried to jump out. Never found out if that was true or not.
There was once a lady threatening to jump off the balcony next to our high school once–there were a lot of cop cars surrounding the building, and a dark blurry shape way up high. They coaxed her down eventually, but that was definitely freaky.
I remember reading something about how since ~125mph is terminal velocity, if you’re able to land the way a parachutist does you might come out of it ok. Apparently (and I don’t know this firsthand-- if anyone skydives, maybe they can check in), there are 4 or 5 areas of your body you are supposed to use to absorb impact as you land and roll. Something about landing with your feet and rolling sideways, using your hips, arms, and shoulders respectively to absorb parts of the impact. If done correctly, even at terminal velocity your various body parts are absorbing only ~25-30mph. Not something I would want to do on a daily basis, but they way it was described made it seem like it was possible. And by the accounts of people who have survived, it is possible, somehow.
