Portland Police Deal With Male Jumper on I 205 Bridge - PHOTOS

Tragedy was avoided Sunday in Portland when police talked a suicidal man out of leaping from an Oregon freeway bridge.

Photos by Q Madp IraqWarHeroes.org

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - A man threatening to jump from a bridge on the Interstate 205 freeway in Portland Sunday drew a large police response and halted traffic as teams tried to talk the man out of leaping hundreds of feet into the water below.

Our Photographer Q Madp was on the scene and managed to record some of the action as traffic stalled around 6:00 p.m. Sunday, September 6, 2010.

Lt. Kelli Sheffer with Portland Police, says officers responded to the call about a distraught male jumper on the Northbound side of the I-205 Bridge.

"Two Portland Police Traffic officers responded to the bridge, located the man's truck and attempted to stop him."

Sheffer says the man waved at the officers and drove away from them at a slow speed. The motor officers followed the man and called ahead to Washington State Patrol for assistance.

Photos by Q Madp IraqWarHeroes.org

"The Portland Police officers stayed behind the man in his truck as he drove and he eventually came back to the Southbound lanes of the bridge."

About mid span, the man got out of his vehicle, walked to the side of the bridge and climbed over the railing. The Portland Police Traffic officers stayed with the man.

One of the officers began a conversation with him as the other asked for additional police assistance, Sheffer said.

The Portland Police Hostage Negotiation Team, HNT and the Special Emergency Response Team, SERT were called to the scene. A member of Portland Police HNT began to speak with the man in the place of the Traffic Officer.

At approximately 8:40 p.m., the man was successfully talked off of the outside railing and was taken into custody. The man was transported to an area hospital.

No names will be released at this time.

Q Madp is a person who has dedicated his life to preserving the integrity of those who have died fighting for their nation overseas. This is a person who has wrapped his entire life around his efforts to preserve the legacies of people who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as during other conflicts. He doesn’t think their deaths should go unrecognized, and he is right.

Q is a photographer and he has his work cut out for him as the self-appointed unofficial photographer of NW military funerals. He travels to services and he is constantly on the move. When he isn’t driving or shooting pictures, Q spends his time researching combat statistics and adding names to the vast list that he hopes will eventually include every American lost in the combat theaters and every other allied soldier as well. His Website is easy to remember, IraqWarHeroes.org is a place of memories for thousands of families who have lost a loved one.