NYPD rescues man who climbed Williamsburg Bridge, threatened to jump
Officers had to climb a bridge towers and shimmy across suspension.
Police officers climbed to the top of a New York City bridge on Sunday to rescue a shirtless man who had threatened to jump.
The New York City Police Department said a team of officers climbed to the top of the Williamsburg Bridge on Sunday morning to talk down a “distraught” man who said he planned to commit suicide.
Officers spoke with the man for more than an hour before they were finally able to lower him to safety via a harness, according to NYPD footage from the scene.
The officers had to climb one of the bridge's towers and “shimmy across 15 feet of suspension cable" to reach the man, police said. The bridge’s main towers are about 350 feet tall, according to construction firm Skanska, which has worked on the bridge in the past.
"I tried establish a rapport with him and he mentioned nothing going on in his life, and would be worth ending it," NYPD Detective Thomas Long told New York ABC station WABC. "He was able to recognize he was going to get help. He was very thankful."
The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York City for a mental health evaluation after the standoff, authorities said. There were no injuries reported.
New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill thanked the department’s Special Operations on Sunday after the rescue and praised its members for their “amazing acts of bravery and heroism.”
“Thank you, @NYPDSpecialops, for talking down and bringing to safety this man who was threatening to jump off the Williamsburg Bridge minutes ago. Outstanding work. Stay safe,” O'Neill tweeted Sunday. “Just another example of the many ways the men & women of @NYPDnews keep New Yorkers, in every neighborhood, safe each day.”
Police did not disclose the man’s identity.
