Checking declare 13 truck drivers blocked freeway below Detroit bridge to assist forestall suicide try

[ad_1] Declare:

On April 24, 2018, Michigan State Police enlisted the assistance of semi-truck drivers to line up below a Detroit-area freeway overpass to assist forestall a girl from leaping to her demise from the bridge above.

Ranking:

Ranking: Largely True

What's True:

On April 24, 2018, 911 callers alerted police to a person doubtlessly considering leaping from an overpass above Interstate 696 in a Detroit suburb. Michigan State Police then closed off each instructions of I-696 and directed truckers to park below the overpass, lowering the doable distance the person might fall till he selected to step again from the sting. Nonetheless ...

What's False:

... Some social media customers' posts circulating in October 2025 featured a copied-and-pasted story containing dramatized textual content resembling tales generated with an artificial-intelligence (AI) instrument that wrongly claimed the individual on the bridge was a girl. Michigan State Police 1st Lt. Mike Shaw, an individual named within the story, instructed Snopes by e-mail the person concerned was a person. He additionally stated that the posts' model of the story was "a bit exaggerated" and identified {that a} quote attributed to him was fabricated.

A rumor that circulated on-line in October 2025 claimed that on April 24, 2018, Michigan State Police enlisted the assistance of semi-truck drivers to line up below a Detroit-area freeway overpass to assist forestall a girl from leaping to her demise from the bridge above.

For instance, on Oct. 14, a Fb consumer posted (archived) an image displaying a number of vehicles lined up below an overpass at night time.

(What Did I Simply See?/Fb)

The submit, which acquired almost 100,000 whole engagements, featured a 16-paragraph story starting as follows:

13 truckers acquired a name at 1 a.m.: "Park your vehicles below a bridge and do not transfer." They did not ask why. They simply got here.

It was after midnight on April 24, 2018, when Michigan State Police acquired a name that stopped Lt. Mike Shaw's coronary heart: a girl was standing on the sting of a bridge over Interstate 696 in Detroit, considering the unthinkable.

The freeway beneath was darkish. The drop was deadly. And Shaw had minutes to decide.

He grabbed his radio and did one thing that had by no means been completed earlier than.

He known as the truckers.

Inside minutes, headlights pierced the darkness. One after the other, 13 semi-trucks rolled into place throughout each lane of the freeway, parking facet by facet, forming a wall of metal and hope beneath the bridge.

Three days later, one other Fb consumer posted (archived) the identical story with a photograph displaying a pink circle round a determine wearing white, presumably the individual considering leaping from the bridge.

(Motivational Humorous/Fb)

Many different customers shared this identical story on Fb (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and TikTok (archived). One TikTok photograph submit (archived) that acquired over 11 million views featured feedback together with info from two of the alleged truck drivers. These tales seem later on this article.

Snopes readers additionally searched our web site for details about whether or not this story was true.

Briefly, 1st Lt. Mike Shaw, a public info officer for Michigan State Police, confirmed over e-mail that the story was typically correct. Particularly, Shaw confirmed that troopers really enlisted the help of truck drivers to assist forestall an individual's potential suicide try on April 24, 2018.

Concerning the copied-and-pasted story, which contained dramatized textual content resembling tales generated with an artificial-intelligence (AI) instrument, Shaw stated the individual on the bridge was a person, not a girl. He additionally stated that the posts' model of the incident was "a bit exaggerated" and included a fabricated quote attributed to him, particularly, "They did not do it for recognition. They did not do it for thanks. They did it as a result of it was the precise factor to do."

In different phrases, the posts' recounting of the story was largely true however nonetheless featured inaccuracies. In consequence, we have rated the declare largely true.

Information media shops' articles from April 2018 reported the person peacefully walked away from the bridge after about three hours.

A submit (archived) dated the morning of the incident from an official Michigan State Police X account was proof that the photograph of the vehicles lined up below the bridge was real. The image displayed a mosaic impact to censor the person on the bridge, showing simply above the inexperienced signal on the precise facet of the body.

A unique X consumer's submit (archived), showing hours previous to the Michigan State Police account's submit, confirmed the identical image with out the mosaic impact overlaying the person. We contacted that consumer and can replace this text if we obtain additional info.

The person on the bridge Hours after the incident ended with out the person leaping from the bridge, CNN reported firsthand info from Shaw. In his correspondence with Snopes, Shaw confirmed the accuracy of the article and the authenticity of the quotes bearing his title.

Round 1 a.m. on April 24, 2018, 911 callers alerted police to a person doubtlessly considering leaping from an overpass above Interstate 696 within the Detroit suburb of Huntington Woods. The CNN article, citing Shaw, stated troopers closed off each instructions of I-696 and requested for truckers' assist in case the person jumped or unintentionally fell.

Shaw instructed CNN it wasn't uncommon to ask truckers to assist in related circumstances, however that "more often than not these occasions are (resolved) fairly quick, so we solely get one semi."

The article learn, partially:

Troopers regarded for giant rigs exiting the freeway and requested them to drive forward as a substitute and park beneath the overpass. The 13 vehicles packed in tightly to attenuate the gaps between them.

Ought to the person have fallen, Shaw stated, it will have been solely 5 or 6 ft onto the roof of a truck, fairly than 14 ft to the concrete beneath.

Police ended up speaking the person down, he stated.

"Normally after we discuss to folks which can be concerned in these kind of incidents," Shaw stated, "normally there is a set off. We attempt to discover out what that set off is and rectify it."

"We had been in a position to do this with him immediately," he stated. "We had been capable of persuade him that this was not the precise factor to do, and we had been capable of get him to an area hospital the place he's getting the assistance that he wants."

Shaw additional stated, "In that image someplace is any person that was considering ending their very own life," including, "We wish that to be the story – not what Michigan State Police did or what the truckers did, however that the individual modified their very own thoughts."

Fox 2 Detroit reported additional pictures from the early-morning scene, in addition to extra particulars concerning the man and the officers concerned.

In the event you or somebody you understand is experiencing a psychological well being, suicide or substance use disaster, or emotional misery, attain out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline by dialing or texting 988 or utilizing chat providers at 988lifeline.org to hook up with a skilled disaster counselor.

Sources: "13 Semis Line Detroit Freeway to Assist Man Contemplating Suicide." FOX 2 Detroit, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.fox2detroit.com/information/13-semis-line-detroit-freeway-to-help-man-considering-suicide.

Dickson, James David, and Sarah Rahal. "Police, Semis Halt Suicide Try on I-696." The Detroit Information, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.detroitnews.com/story/information/native/oakland-county/2018/04/24/police-semis-halt-suicide-attempt-696/545522002/.

Grey, Melissa. "A Man Was Threatening to Bounce off an Overpass. Massive Rigs Parked beneath to Break His Fall." CNN, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/24/us/detroit-truckers-help-suicidal-man-trnd.

@mspmetrodet. "This Picture Does Present the Work Troopers and Native Officers..." X, 24 Apr. 2018, https://x.com/mspmetrodet/standing/988789208562225153.

Patterson, Brandon, and Brian Manzullo. "A Man Tried to Bounce off a Detroit Overpass. Then 13 Truckers Saved Him." Detroit Free Press, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.freep.com/story/information/native/michigan/oakland/2018/04/24/detroit-trucks-save-man/545219002/.

"Police and Semi Vehicles Forestall Suicide Try on Interstate." CBS Detroit, 25 Apr. 2018, https://www.wymt.com/content material/information/Police-and-semi-trucks-prevent-suicide-attempt-on-interstate-480833891.html.