The department says the suicidal man, 45-year-old Phillip Lee McDuffy of Columbia, was threatening to jump from the Providence Road pedestrian overpass. After an hour and a half of negotiations, McDuffy moved towards the south side of the bridge away from I-70. Officers deployed a Taser when he was in a spot on the bridge that would prevent injury if he fell. Captain Zim Schwartze says that deployment did not work. McDuffy moved quickly over the highway when the Taser was deployed a second time. By that time, he had moved away from a secure area and fell onto the concrete. He was taken to the hospital. McDuffy suffered two broken arms, an orbital fracture (eye socket) and a possible jaw fracture.

During a news conference, Schwartze said negotiations were used to try and keep McDuffy from jumping off the bridge. Traffic was rerouted during the time to keep McDuffy from jumping into the path of oncoming vehicles.

"Several family members advised he would not cooperate with us because of his past interactions with us," Schwartze said. "Extensive history with our agency involving assaults, resisting arrests, assaults with some weapons, narcotics, domestic assaults, burglary, traffic offenses and warrants. In addition, he's known to have warrants on his person. He's also a convicted felon."

Family members on the scene were distraught. They blamed the police department for preventing them to speak with McDuffy while he was on the bridge. His daughter felt he would have gotten off the bridge safely if she had the chance to speak to him.

The Columbia Police Department released an extensive news release explaining its position on what happened and why officers decided to deploy the Taser. A downloadable version is available by clicking on the link to the left of this article.