UPDATE 11:55 AM: The man threatening to jump from the Burnside Bridge was coaxed down safely from the rail about 11:30 am, police say, about 45 minutes after the first calls about a potential suicide attempt came in. Westbound traffic had been closed while police spoke with the man, but as of now—barring any residual slowdowns—traffic on both sides of the bridge should be moving.
Original post: Portland police officers have closed westbound traffic on the Burnside Bridge in hopes of coaxing back to safety a young man who witnesses say appeared to be hanging off the rail on the north side of the bridge, threatening to jump in the Willamette River.
Police spokeswoman Lt. Kelli Sheffer said officers are in contact with the man but that special crisis negotiators have not been called out yet. “We’ll see if we can get him to come back over,” Sheffer says. “A lot of times it doesn’t require more resources, like our negotiation team. It looks like the uniform folks are dongdoing okay.”
Sheffer also said Coast Guard boats have been deployed under the bridge to reach the young man in case he does fall into the river.
Information about the young man on the bridge, and on how the incident started, wasn’t immediately available. But I’ll post more as we get it. Our intern Kevin Otzenberger is headed to the scene.
If you’re heading that way, remember that traffic heading to downtown is closed off. Traffic heading east is open—but only for now. Depending on how things go, police could close the entire bridge at any time.
Your best bet? “Take another route,” Sheffer says. And hope for the best.
Hope for the best? My best or the jumper’s best?
I’ve always heard that the Burnside Bridge isn’t high enough to killer a jumper.
Looks open now. Also, the reaction of staff was uniformly, “is that even possible?”
i am ok now. thank you all for your positive thoughts. i was just really distraught over patrick coleman leaving the mercury.
I’d imagine it’s more than high enough to knock you out, or knock you silly, which would normally lead to death by drowning, right?
Third paragraph in the original post says that “uniform folks are dong okay.” And while that’s *correct,* I don’t think it’s what you meant…
Graham,
How about you personally test it out and report back?
Actually, I’ve met someone who tried to jump off the Burnside Bridge to commit suicide. My father employed him. He had some really nasty scars on his body from the attempt (my dad hired him to do some paint work on one of his rental properties).
I meant the jumper’s best. This had a very good ending.
@Reymont: No that’s not what I meant. Sigh.
I’m dong great!
Why are you posting details about this young man (as available)? Isn’t he in enough pain as it is? I thought there was a journalistic standard to not cover suicide attempts, largely because of the trauma it would cause the survivor and their loved ones, no?
Making fun, particularly in the aftermath of the Rutgers suicide, strikes me as poor taste. If any of the young person’s loved ones are reading this, my heart goes out to you in this difficult time.
@nestchick:
It is poor taste to poke fun at all this. As for whether to cover a potential suicide attempt, sometimes that depends on external circumstances. In this case, the very visible location and time of day prompted us to put up a post.