A day of despair, anger on I-5: Woman survives plunge; commute halted 3-1/2 hours

As negotiators tried unsuccessfully to talk a woman off the Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle yesterday morning, traffic throughout the area froze for 3-1/2 hours.

Vehicles were backed up from the bridge north all the way to Shoreline. They were backed up from the bridge east on Highway 520 all the way to Kirkland. They were backed up in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 from the bridge south all the way to Boeing Field, according to the state Transportation Department.

A 26-year-old woman, apparently distraught over a personal relationship, stopped her car in the southbound lanes of the interstate about 6:20 a.m., walked over to the west side of the bridge, climbed onto the railing and threatened to jump the 160 feet to the water below.

Police were called and traffic in the southbound lanes was halted or re-routed into the reversible lanes.

Meanwhile, three police negotiators arrived to try to talk the woman, a legislative lobbyist in Olympia, out of jumping.

At the time she climbed on the railing, there were no trained negotiators on duty. But by 8, two were called from home to try to communicate with her. At 9:12, after those negotiators made no progress, a third was summoned.

While the police tried to talk the woman down, motorists passing the scene in the northbound lanes began rubbernecking, almost causing accidents. That, coupled with the jeering and obscenities directed at the woman from passing motorists, caused police to close the northbound lanes as well for more than an hour.

As police tried to reason the woman off the railing, her boyfriend was summoned to the bridge.

It was unknown yesterday whether he ever made it there. He and his family asked police and others to withhold as much information about the incident as possible.

Police negotiators talked to the woman, described by co-workers as wonderful, kind and intelligent, for more than two hours.

To no avail.

Shortly after 10, she stood up on the railing one more time, and jumped.

Jackson Lone, a police diver, was in one of three police vessels below the bridge in case the woman did jump.

When she surfaced, feet first, Lone reached over the side of the boat and grabbed her, slid into the water and towed her to another police vessel, where she was put on a back board and taken to medics on shore.

Lone and his colleagues said they were surprised when the woman jumped.

"We were amazed that she jumped after 3-1/2 hours up there," said Lt. Richard Schweitzer. He said it's unusual for people to spend that much time talking to negotiators before leaping.

The woman, who has a home in Chehalis, had improved to serious by stable condition today at Harborview Medical Center. She suffered a spinal fracture and chest and abdominal injuries.

The boyfriend's family issued a statement from the hospital, saying, "(Her) friends and family are all here to support her. ... She is a wonderful woman. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers."

The interstate was reopened in all directions about 10:30.

There have been at least 10 suicide attempts off the Ship Canal Bridge since 1966. Of those, three people — including the woman who jumped yesterday — have survived.

Police said that for a time, calls to the North Precinct backed up because so many officers had been assigned to handling the traffic and the situation on the bridge.

Officers from the East Precinct and the State Patrol were called in to help, police said.

Police spokesman Scott Moss said it was extremely unlikely that any sort of charges would be filed against the woman.

Seattle Times staff reporter Ian Ith contributed to this report.