Police Talk Man Out of Jumping From Main Street Overpass

SAN ANGELO, TX — A man threatening to jump from the Main Street overpass onto the Houston Harte Expressway has been talked out of the suicide attempt by police officers.

A section of Houston Harte was shut down at about 12:10 p.m. Tuesday as the man stood on the other side of the safety rail.

Police officers were quickly on scene talking to the man, and they were able to get him to walk away with them about an hour later.

According to a Nixle alert, motorists were advised to avoid the 400 block of East Houston Harte. Traffic was heavily congested in the area as vehicles were being diverted onto exit ramps.

Main Street was shut down where it crossed Houston Harte, and outbound traffic on the expressway was reduced to one lane.

There were numerous people watching the incident unfold.

Police Chief Travis Griffith briefed the media and said that officers arrived to find a man in his 40s who was "reaching out for help."

"He was on the edge there, and so we responded with our great patrol officers. We were able to bring in our negotiators there. They're able to negotiate all sorts of things, but they're really good at negotiating situations like this. We were able to make enough contact with him and start the dialogue, and we got to a point where we were able to come to a resolution."

Griffith talked about the next steps for the man.

"Anytime somebody's struggling in a situation like this, we have a process. We'll get them to Shannon Hospital and make sure nothing's medically going on, and then we'll walk through the next steps of helping, whether that's a counselor or psychiatrist.

"In this case, we're just glad we were able to come to a resolution that's peaceful and that he stepped off the bridge and back into embracing life."

When asked why officers didn't grab the man to prevent him from jumping, Griffith said the situation didn't call for it.

"We're dealing with trust. We want not only this encounter but the next to be able to show people that are not associated with us at all that they can trust us and they can talk to us. Some situation do dictate (officers physically intervening), but the negotiators are the ones closest to it. They're hearing what's happening and seeing it getting closer and closer with the verbiage that's being used that, 'Hey, I think this is going to go peaceful.' And if you miss that grab, you force a situation you don't have to."