Semitrailers line Michigan freeway to aid police stopping suicide
HUNTINGTON WOODS, Mich. — More than a dozen tractor-trailers lined up beneath a Detroit-area freeway overpass to aid police trying to help a man contemplating suicide.
Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said troopers received a call early Tuesday about the man standing on an overpass above Interstate 696 in Huntington Woods. As officers routed traffic away, they directed truckers to drive into positions to shorten the fall if the man jumped.
This photo does show the work troopers and local officers do to serve the public. But also in that photo is a man struggling with the decision to take his own life. Please remember help is available through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. pic.twitter.com/RBAlCIXT1o
— MSP Metro Detroit (@mspmetrodet) April 24, 2018
Thirteen trucks lined the freeway as police dealt with the man. The incident lasted about four hours until he walked off to waiting officers and to seek medical help.
Shaw says troopers typically work with truckers during such incidents, but it’s unusual to have so many involved. He adds there are “many other options out there aside from taking your own life.”
