December 2001: "The Bridge" On Monday night, November 26, around 915PM, at the height of a terrible storm in Memphis, MPD dispatch received a call from Crittenden County, Ark, that a man was on the Hernando Desoto bridge, possibly going to committ suicide. The rain was coming down in a typical Florida Monsoon fashion, visibility reduced to a few feet. Five officers responded in what would change their lives, and how they thought about each other too. Officer Corey Vann was first on the scene, pulling onto the bridge thinking "another bogus call on the bridge, until he saw a small black car on the side of the road, and the hair on the back of his neck peaked. A chill went through him, as he later described, "It didn't feel right", to all of us in a later critical incident debriefing....He walked towards the car in the torrent of rain, and tapped on the right rear window, seeing the driver sitting perfectly still in the seat. The window cracked down, and what did he see, but a pistol pointed out at him from the driver, very calmly. Officer Vann immediately sought cover, drawing his weapon, and calling for more cars to help him now. I was next (CIT Officer Tutko) to arrive, and I too, was thinking it was "another baloney call" on the bridge, somebody with a flat tire who somebody else saw on the bridge and escalated the call to a "jumper on the bridge"....I saw Officer Vann retreating towards me with his pistol drawn and asked "What do you have, Vann? What's up with the gun?" "He's got a gun!"...he said, and I saw through the sheets of rain, about 30 yards from me, the man, holding a pistol under his chin, very calmly. I cannot adequately describe the rain, the wind and the bridge, swaying left and right, up and down, that stormy night, mixed with the adrenalin flowing like a river amongst us. By now, Officers Chester Striplin and Brad Wilburn had arrived, and I, as a Crisis Intervention Officer, had charge of the scene. I told them to take positions behind us, and block traffic coming onto the westbound side of the I 40 bridge, as the Grizzlies game was now letting out of the Pyramid, adding more to the mix. Officer Duane Dugger also arrived, and took up a position behind his squad car, shotgun drawn and aimed down towards our man, still in his car. I yelled to Vann from my car, which was about 20 feet behind his that I was going to run to his car, and grab his PA to try to talk to the distraught man. I asked him to cover me, running across open area from my car to his......I made it to his car, and began to talk at the man, since he was not talking to us, just nodding his head "no" and making sure we saw the gun. We saw it. He became frustrated, I guess, and started to drive forward , next to the construction wall, just east of a giant construction crane, driving about 2 mph. We all just looked at each other in surprise and astoundment, and I said, "Jump in your car Vann, I'll drive mine towards him, cover me"...and I drove my car at a 45 degree angle with every light on that it had, car flashing, lighting and pointing in his direction. The rain just kept coming, hurting our faces, stinging like snow....Vann yelled out to me to "Get out that big gun you (I) have....." a weapon CIT Officers are equipped with that looks like something out of "Terminator 2", a 37mm hard baton launcher used to knock down an individual without killing him if possible. I'm very good with it......I pulled it from its case and loaded it at the trunk....and now our guy got out of the car and was holding the gun to his head and walking towards the edge of the bridge. Vann and I were shouting now..."You don't have to do this...."" and the man actually pointed his gun towards Vann and myself twice, but we didn't fire. He was screaming for us to shoot, adding to the macabre scene, and I struggled to sight him in with the big SL-6, but the torrential rain kept coming. Now I noticed a Lt., Lt. Tim Canady behind me, being supportive and trying to get E/B traffic stopped from Arkansas somehow. This scene was going bad, and I know we were all thinking we might have to kill this guy to end this mess. Vann and I continued to yell to him, as he swung a leg over the side, and I finally had him zeroed in my sights, but whether someone said it out loud, or I thought it, if I hit him, he would go over the bridge, and then THAT wouldn't be good. He stepped back away from the edge, inadvertently coming towards me, and Vann said something that distracted him. He started to lean to the ground, and I took that moment to run towards him, jumping over the concrete barrier and taking him to the ground. I kicked the gun, as another officer later said.."Pele there kicked the gun about 30 feet" and watched it slide off the edge to the construction scaffold below. I handcuffed him on the ground, and suddenly realized how hard the rain was. The man began crying, and saying "Why didn't you shoot?....I wanted you to shoot..." The guys all rushed up to help, and Lt. Canady helped me get him to his feet. The man was shivering and crying he was cold, so I took off my coat, and wrapped it around the man who we thought was going to shoot us, just moments before. Everyone let out a large sigh of relief, and we now wondered how we'd get the gun I had drop kicked off the bridge. I had to get this guy off the bridge and to the Med Psychiatric unit fast, so I left, with Lt. Canady escorting me behind , as we went into Arkansas to turn around and come back over the bridge into Memphis. The man, a 27 y/o , had a sad and desperate tale to tell as we drove to the Med. He told of a life of abuse since he was young, a broken family,and misfortune, coupled with a history of psychiatric care and frustration that led him to this point. He said he he heard of the infamous "Suicide by Cop" ploy and really hoped we would shoot him..... I assured him he would be taken care of immediately when we arrived at the Med, my word. Officer Dugger meanwhile still on the bridge, saw the gun below, and recovered it, climbing down below the bridge, probably cursing my name as he climbed down there....as I was at the Med with the man, filling out paperwork, dripping from my bones, a message from Dugger came to me..."the gun was a fake...a pellet gun....a Sig P228 look alike" that officers on the scene couldn't immediately tell even when they had it in their hands. Lt Mary Johnson was up there too, and later said, "when I saw officers leaning on the back of a squad car with a shotgun, I knew it couldn't be good".........This story could have had tragic consequences, but the men on that bridge, on that night, at that time, made the decisions they made, followed the orders given and this ended with no one hurt. No one. We all met the next night with a critical incident debriefing team, a suggestion I made to Maj Dave Martello, who relayed it to Maj Sam Cochran, head of our nationally acclaimed Crisis Intervention Team. It was a tremendous session, and I know we all were better for it. The psychiatric staff wondered aloud why they were there, saying "These things are usually reserved when things go bad..." but I stated, "I suggested this, because everything went RIGHT, and we all just wanted someone to hear how we felt up there, and tell us it was ok." It's hopefully something they'll keep in mind. This is a story where evryone goes home, no one was shot, or killed. Maybe not what the media usually jumps on, but I thought you might want to hear it. I didn't mention the man's name for his privacy. I sincerely hope he will recover, with better treatment.