A man jumped to his death from a freeway overpass the morning of Nov. 21 in Long Beach, causing temporary closures to parts of the 710 and 91 freeways.
Authorities pronounced the man, identified as Francisco Carillo Santana, 54, dead at the scene after he jumped from the overpass around 8:19am. According to a representative from the California Highway Patrol (CHP), officers responded to the area after receiving multiple calls of a man walking along the shoulder in an agitated state. By the time officers arrived at the scene, they found Santana sitting on the “transition wall.”
The situation forced other Long Beach departments to respond in an attempt to help the man. The Long Beach Police Department confirmed to the Signal Tribune that its mental-health evaluation team, officers with training to respond to cases where mental health is a concern, tried to de-escalate the situation. They spent about 30 minutes trying to communicate with Santana.
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The Long Beach Fire Department reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department for its assistance in procuring a large airbag.
“We requested assistance from LA County Fire,” Long Beach Fire Department Cpt. Matt Dobberpuhl told the Signal Tribune in a phone interview Nov. 21. “They have a large inflatable airbag that was deployed in an effort to try to protect his fall. However, the person made an effort to avoid that. He ended up jumping off of the overpass just after 8 o’clock. I think it was about 8:15am, and he was pronounced deceased on scene.”
Shortly after, CHP took over the scene and temporarily shut down the freeway near the overpass, according to an official.
