i witnessed a suicide attempt today

We wanted to go for jap buffet, and so I was drove out of base when we met a huge jam leading to the Coronado Bay Bridge, the one that links north island to mainland. A little background on this bridge: it has a max height of 200 ft to allow aircraft carriers to pass underneath it, and it is a really beautiful bridge which gives a wonderful view of downtown as we drive out, and of the pacific ocean as we drive in. Sometimes if we are lucky, we can spot seahawks going up and down the bay doing training sorties. It also happens to be the third deadliest suicide bridge in USA according to wiki.

So we were stuck in the long jam, wondering what's happening in front. then i spotted a guy standing on the bridge on the opposite side of where i was driving, as if he's gonna do a bungee jump or something. as i drove past, it became apparent what was going on, cos there were non-uniformed negotiators trying to talk to him. (i saw 1 main negotiator talking to him, with 1 more on standby just a few metres away.) and as i drove further down, i saw that the police had closed the other side of the bridge, and that there was abt 50 cars stuck with no where they can go. it was abt 2pm when i finally got onto the freeway. so we had lunch and walked around a bit, hoping that the situation would have defused by the time we head back. alas, there was still a huge jam along the freeway nearing the area, and the bridge was still "closed due to police activities", as heard over the radio station.

anyway, the incident made me wonder what it takes to drive a man to such a drastic step. this is the second time i witnessed such a thing. the other time was in uni, i was back in my room after a paper when i noticed through my window some commotion in the driveway near the engin fac. there were civil defence quick-response vehicles and police patrol cars, then i saw them running up the building to the rooftop. it was a 4-storey high laboratory building, so i could see all the proceedings from my 8th-floor hostel room. so i saw some staff and police officers talking to him, and there were some SCDF personnel deploying an air cushion on the ground (rather slowly i must add), when suddenly some guys grabbed the student and pulled him away from the edge. rather uneventful conclusion, but at least the guy get to live another day, and reflect on it.