Minn. Delivery Worker Uses Beer To Talk Suicidal Man Off Ledge

SAINT PAUL, MN — A delivery worker used quick thinking and a 12-pack of cold ones to talk a suicidal man off a ledge in Minnesota this week. While making their rounds Wednesday, Jason Gabel and Kwame Anderson witnessed a man holding on to the opposite side of the chain-link fence on the Earl Street bridge, overlooking Interstate 94.

"I was thinking to myself, this poor guy is going to end his life in front of us and Kwame and I were here to witness it," Gabel told KSTP.

They called 911. Police arrived, but Anderson continued to speak with the man for the next hour. He learned the man is a native of Chicago.

"He said, ‘Chicago’s tough,'" Anderson told the Pioneer Press. "I said, 'I grew up on the East Side of St. Paul, in the hood just like you.'"

Anderson asked the man if he wanted to share a drink and talk about what’s going on. "I have a pack of Coors Light for you. Follow me," he added, according to the newspaper.

The man then climbed off the bridge to safety.

Saint Paul police spokesperson Sgt. Mike Ernster praised Anderson's actions.

"Beer has been bringing people together for a long, long time," Ernster told the Pioneer Press. "Today, it brought people together in a life-saving way."

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