A man threatening to commit suicide by jumping from an Interstate 696 overpass was reported to Detroit police. Officers arrived at the site with negotiators, and together they came up with an unexpected backup plan.
Just after 1 a.m., Michigan State Police began flagging down semi trucks. To shorten the distance the man would fall if he chose to leap, the trucks were arranged in a row underneath the bridge.
As more semi-trucks came, police closed the west-bound lanes of the highway and the truckers lined up across the east-bound lanes. After several hours, 13 big rig truck drivers stayed parked beneath the overpass until police arrived to securely transport the victim to a nearby hospital.
The heroism took happened while most of the country was asleep, but the moment was captured on camera.
The photographs went viral after Michigan State Police tweeted them to congratulate local officials for proposing the unorthodox strategy. MSP Metro Detroit’s tweet remarked, “This photo does show the work troopers and local officers do to serve the public.”
The tweet went on to say: “There’s a man in that picture who’s having trouble deciding whether to commit suicide. Recall that you can get assistance by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.