One person died on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after jumping from the Mackinac Bridge, the Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office said on Nov. 5.
Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bryan Hookana confirmed the fatality, but said few details would be released because police do not want to “spur any copycats.”
St. Ignace and Mackinaw City police “responded to an incident on the bridge, turned into a death investigation” at about 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, Hookana said.
The investigation remains ongoing.
The center of the Mackinac Bridge, a suspension bridge that connects Michigan’s peninsulas, is approximately 155 feet from the water, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Police did not say at which point in the span the person jumped.
Suicides are rare on the Mackinac Bridge because foot traffic is not allowed and vehicles are prohibited from stopping or makeing U-turns, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority.
Fatal accidents among workers have been reported. From 1954-56, five men died on the Mackinac Bridge during construction, and in 1997 a bridge painter fell and drowned.
One car is known to have gone over the side of the bridge, resulting in a death in 1989.
The State Journal typically does not report about most incidents involving suicide, but is doing so in this instance because of the public nature of the incident.
Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 1 person dead after Mackinac Bridge incident. What officials are saying
Reporting by Sarah Moore, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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