A person experiencing a mental health crisis was standing outside the safety fence at Royal Gorge Bridge, suspended roughly 955 feet above the Arkansas River, when Fremont County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. An hour and a half later, that same person climbed back over the fence and returned to safety with the deputies at their side.
According to the Canon City Daily Record, deputies responded to the bridge regarding the individual in crisis, and FCSO Deputy Alejandro Jimenez arrived and began speaking with the person almost immediately. Jimenez worked to establish rapport while members of the department's crisis negotiations unit assisted with communication, per the same account.
A Coordinated Response On The Bridge
Cpl. Rico Garcia coordinated incoming responders and communication among responding personnel during the standoff, the outlet reported. Meanwhile, the Cañon City Area Fire Protection District and American Medical Response remained on standby, and the Sheriff's Office later thanked both agencies for their readiness throughout the incident.
The conversation between Jimenez, the crisis negotiations team and the individual stretched for about an hour and a half before the person made the decision to climb back over the fence and return to the bridge deck with deputies. The Sheriff's Office praised Jimenez and the crisis negotiations unit members for their compassion, patience and respect during the encounter, the Daily Record's report states.
Why Crisis Training Matters To Deputies
In its account, the Sheriff's Office said crisis intervention training is important in law enforcement work, noting that responding deputies need an understanding of mental health crises along with effective communication, active listening, patience and other crisis-response skills. Colorado's Peace Officer Standards and Training program outlines a related concept in its own materials, describing Crisis Intervention Teams training as an intensive 40-hour curriculum designed to help officers and other public safety professionals respond to calls involving behavioral health problems, according to the Colorado POST flyer describing the course.
A Bridge With A Long History Of Safety Upgrades
Sunday's incident unfolded at a span that has drawn scrutiny over safety for years. The bridge's most recent security elements, including metal reinforcements to bolster the outer perimeter, were added following a 2021 state inspection, with the railing work completed around 2022, according to The Gazette. The bridge park's marketing manager, Denny Dore, told the paper the new fencing was raised a few inches to a height of 53 inches.
The Gazette, citing state health department statistics, reported that up to 35 people are known to have died by suicide at Royal Gorge Bridge since 1995. The paper also reported that the Fremont County coroner recorded no suicide deaths referencing the words royal, gorge or bridge for each year from 2022 through 2024, following the fencing upgrades. State data cited in the same report showed the highest three-year total prior to that stretch was nine deaths from 2016 through 2018, followed by six during the pandemic years of 2019 through 2021.
The Gazette's reporting also pointed to a comparable safety effort at the Golden Gate Bridge, where a steel suicide-prevention net spanning the entire 1.7-mile structure took six years to install and was completed Jan. 1, 2024. The paper reported eight suicide deaths there in 2024 after the net went up, a 73% decrease, and four deaths the following year it covered, an 87% decrease.
Not every encounter at Royal Gorge Bridge has ended the way Sunday's did. In August 2020, the Daily Record reported that 23-year-old Cañon City resident Marlon Brewer died by suicide after jumping from the bridge, with security footage and eyewitness accounts confirming the fall. The outcome of Sunday's intervention, and what support the individual received afterward, was not detailed in the Sheriff's Office account.
