Video shows officers, citizens coming to aid of man going through mental crisis
Officers save man going through mental crisis
Dramatic body camera video released by the Atlanta Police Department shows a collaborative effort to save a man threatening to jump off an overpass onto a busy highway last Sunday afternoon. The man is fine after some quick thinking by first responders and citizens who sprang into action.
ATLANTA - It was a race against time to rescue a man threatening to jump off a busy bridge in southeast Atlanta.
Body camera from police show the dramatic moments and the quick thinking it took to pull the man to safety.
"Give me your hand. Give me your hand. I got you. Come on. Come to me," an officer can be heard saying on the body cam video.
The video shows the heart-stopping moments as a team of first responders saves a man who threatened to jump from a bridge in southeast Atlanta.
"When I got there, officers were literally holding him by his clothes through the holes in the fence. His clothes were about to rip and he was attempting to move," Atlanta Police Sergeant Brian Hill said.
Sgt. Hill was at the busy scene which was at the Hill Street Bridge over Interstate 20 on Sunday afternoon.
"I stepped back at the situation and I said, ‘How can we get this man off the bridge?’ I asked fire for some wire cutters, so we could reach out and touch him," Hill said.
"They were holding him by his arms and legs," Steven Lewis said.
Steven Lewis lives nearby and snapped pictures and was one of many who watched first responders step up to save the man’s life.
"They were calm. They weren’t running around panicking. They seemed to have everything under control," Lewis said.
The team was able to finally pull the man to safety where he was checked out by paramedics.
"Everyone wants to help. That’s all we want to do. God is good. It’s some good men out here. I know y’all are some good men," a woman said who was on scene helping.
It wasn’t just first responders that jumped into action several women who were driving by and jumped in to help.
Officers said one woman gave the man $500 to help the man get back on his feet.
"We have definitely seen an uptick in mental health issues. Officers are having to respond to people in crisis," Hill said.
Sgt. Hill said teamwork and training is key in situations like this
"You see the training in full effect. How everyone came together to help one person," Hill said.
Police stress this was a collaborative effort between police, fire, state patrol, GDOT and those citizens.