Man Dead after Jumping from Tobin Bridge

A 43-year-old Medford man has been identified as the jumper that took his life from the Tobin Bridge Friday morning during rush hour.

According to Suffolk County D.A. Spokesman Jake Wark, the man drove from the Chelsea side of the bridge, paid the toll, pulled over on the Charlestown side, walked over to the railing and leaped.

One witness called 911 to report that a man had jumped from the bridge.

The man ultimately came to rest in a construction site below the bridge in Charlestown.

“The snow prints in the snow and witness statements confirm that there was only one individual and no one else was present,” said Wark. “He was not reported missing, the family has been notified and no indication of foul play.”

The D.A. office has requested video surveillance from MassDOT of the bridge to confirm witness statements.

“This is not being investigated as a homicide,” said Wark.

With more than a dozen suicides and attempted suicides at the Tobin Bridge since 2012, suicide prevention advocates were disappointed that MassDOT did not introduce safeguard fencing to the Tobin Bridge to prevent future deaths during last year’s bridge rehab.

“I have heard of [agencies] putting higher guardrails up,” Elizabeth Blake, a grief support volunteer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told BostInno last year. . “Whatever they can do—anything they are willing to do—every little bit helps.”

In 2012, there were three reported suicides from the Tobin Bridge, not counting the attempts made by people who survived the fall.

During the $42 million overhaul of the bridge MassDOT said both fencing and barricades would be cost prohibitive and difficult to maintain.