A man was injured Monday morning after he fell from a Beltway bridge over Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) spokesperson Pete Piringer and Maryland State Police.
Around 11:15 a.m., state troopers responded to the area of I-495 and Georgia Avenue for the report of a pedestrian on Georgia Avenue, Maryland State police said in a statement. A preliminary investigation indicates the man “jumped from the highway onto Georgia Avenue,” state police said.
MCFRS crews were dispatched to the scene for the report of a pedestrian struck, Piringer said in a social media post Monday. He noted the person may have fallen from the bridge above.
According to police radio transmissions, county police were also dispatched to the scene for a “suicide call.” The dispatcher said a caller reported seeing a person jump from the Beltway onto Georgia Avenue.
Upon arrival, responding state troopers and MCFRS crews found the man lying in the roadway, state police said. MCFRS personnel evaluated the man at the scene and transported him to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda for treatment, Piringer and state police said.
Piringer later told Bethesda Today the man suffered from “priority 3” trauma. Priority 3 refers to a patient who has suffered trauma “requiring medical attention but not on an emergency basis,” according to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems protocol.
A three-vehicle collision occurred on Georgia Avenue as a result of the man landing on the roadway, Piringer said. No one involved in that collision was transported to a hospital.
Following the incidents, all travel lanes on Georgia Avenue were blocked as first responders worked at the scene, according to radio transmissions.
Road closures lasted about 30 minutes. By around 11:50 a.m. the incident had cleared, and all travel lanes had reopened, according to social media posts from the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination program.
