On February 2, 2014, Hoffman was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment by a friend, playwright and screenwriter David Bar Katz. Hoffman was 46. Although friends stated that Hoffman's drug use was under control at the time, detectives searching the apartment found heroin and prescription medications at the scene, and revealed that he was discovered with a syringe in his arm. After an investigation including the Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alex Spiro, Hoffman's death was officially ruled an accident caused by "acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine". Whether Hoffman had taken all of the substances on the same day, or whether any of the substances had remained in his system from earlier use, was not reported.