Jumper (suicide)

A jumper, in police parlance, is a person who commits suicide by jumping from a height. A frequent scenario is that the jumper will sit on an elevated highway as police attempt to "talk him down."

Cases

*In August 2004 in Japan, a man jumped from the top of a high rise, crushing a 20-year-old student to death [http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040808-092032-7090r.htm] .
*Perhaps the most infamous instance of "jumping" involved the September 11, 2001 attacks, when people who leapt from the burning World Trade Center were captured on film. ("see The Falling Man").
*The Golden Gate Bridge is a popular spot for jumpers due to the length of the fall and temperature of the water below. The 2006 documentary "The Bridge" captured 19 people ending their lives there.

Potential jumpers are sometimes encouraged to commit suicide by observers, an effect known as "suicide baiting." (see Suicide Baiting correlational study (Mann, 1981))
*On August 28, 2001, a woman in Seattle was taunted into jumping from the Ship Canal Bridge by commuters who had been stopped while police tried to talk her down. [cite web | url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3528 |title=Seattle commuters taunt woman threatening suicide leap| publisher=HistoryLink |last=Wilma |first=David| date=2001-09-02| accessdate=2006-08-07] [cite news | last=Holt | first=Gordy | coauthors= Kamb, Lewis; Ho, Vanessa |title=Commuters' mood turns ugly as suicide try snarls I-5 traffic | publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer | date=2001-08-29 | url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/36928_jump29.shtml | accessdate=2006-08-07]
*In 2001, police were trying to persuade a man not to jump from an overpass into traffic, when someone began transmitting on the police frequency the Van Halen song "Jump", whose lyrics repeat "Might as well "jump"! ... Go ahead, "jump"!" The man was talked down safely. [cite web| url=http://www.goofball.com/news/20010924_bizarre |title=Police: We are not amused |publisher=BizarreNews |date=2001-09-24]

In popular culture

Third Eye Blind's song, "Jumper" addresses the act of jumping to commit suicide in their 1997 self-titled album.

In Lethal Weapon Martin Riggs tricks a potential jumper into being handcuffed to him and then leaps onto a safety net, taking the would-be suicidal down with him. Both survive.

The song Spring, from Rammstein's album Rosenrot is about a man who is forced to jump from a bridge by a crowd, despite the fact that he was on the bridge for the view.

German band Tokio Hotel's song "Spring Nicht" or "Don't Jump" shows how the lead singer falls off a building.

References