1,000th Victim Jumps From Bridge

A 25-year-old man slipped quietly into history last week with a 220-foot leap from the Golden Gate Bridge into the cold ocean water.

Eric Atkinson’s death on July 3 was the 1,000th known suicide from the bridge, a magnet for people bent on killing themselves since it opened in 1937.

Authorities haven’t recovered his body, nor do they know much about his life. His car was found abandoned on the bridge and somebody witnessed his leap, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Baker.

“He just got out, walked over and jumped,” Baker said. “When people make up their mind to go, they go. It’s usually the ones who aren’t sure that we stop.”

The CHP has counted deaths off the rust-orange span since its completion. But weeks ago, the agency stopped counting, afraid that publicity about the 1,000-mark might trigger the next jump.

But figuring the 1,000th jump isn’t difficult. The CHP’s official count stopped at 997 on June 5. With two additional suicides in June, Atkinson’s jump, witnessed by at least one person, became the 1,000th on record.