A boy died Wednesday night after he and three other teens jumped off the orange pedestrian bridge at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane.
Spokane Fire Department spokesman Justin de Ruyter said firefighters were called at 6:58 p.m. to a report of four young people who had jumped off the popular bridge just north of the Rotary Fountain. De Ruyter said multiple 911 callers said they heard screaming.
Firefighters arrived four minutes after the call, and divers recovered the unconscious boy, who was in his early teens, at 7:53 p.m. about 100 feet from where he jumped from the bridge, he said. The boy died at the scene.
The other three teens managed to get out of the cold water and were OK.
The rescue drew several first responders, including the Spokane County Sheriff's Office dive team, water rescue teams from Spokane and Spokane Valley fire departments, American Medical Response, and several vehicles from local law enforcement agencies and fire departments.
Three rescue kayakers and a drone above could be seen looking for the boy as dozens of people watched the search from the shore and bridge. Onlookers were eventually asked to move as law enforcement cordoned off a large area with red and yellow police tape.
Jeanniene Lee, who was visiting from Texas, was on a walk at the park when "all of a sudden I heard a commotion," she said.
She heard people saying children were in the water, and she saw the boy floating with his head going "up and down."
Lee said someone should jump in and get him, but she didn't realize it was dangerous to do so. She considered jumping in to save him but was glad she didn't, she said.
"Then, all of a sudden we didn't see him anymore," she said. "He just went under."
She said someone next to her called 911.
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