Man Jumps From Manchester Street Bridge In Concord, Presumed Drowned

CONCORD, NH — Concord police, Concord and Bow fire and rescue teams, and others are searching for the body of a man who jumped off the Manchester Street Bridge into the Merrimack River on Thursday.

Around 1:30 p.m., police and fire dispatch received calls reporting a man on a bike riding east on the sidewalk who stopped, got off his bike, and jumped into the river. According to witnesses, the man was wearing a backpack.

The first arriving officer requested information about what the man looked like and what he might be wearing, noting the river, which had a high water line due to melting snow and rain, was murky and dark.

One officer requested manpower to go to the east side of the river as they reported seeing something in the water. Other officers began searching along the Black Hill Road side of the river and Basin Street.

The object the officer saw was later identified as a log.

Marine Patrol and the New Hampshire State Police drone unit were also requested. Concord firefighters launched boats at Kiwanis Park and Basin Street, and later, their colleagues in Bow began searching their side of the river.

Officers also went to the river shoreline near the wastewater treatment plant to search for the man who was expected to be seen downstream.

State police launched a drone unit and sent a helicopter to search the river around 1:45 p.m.

The witnesses who called 911 were also interviewed to get a better description of the man. He was described as a white man with a puffy jacket and possibly in their 20s. The man was wearing a backpack before he jumped. One witness reported seeing the man grasping onto something in the river while his head bobbed in and out of the water.

A Merrimack County Sheriff’s deputy joined police in canvassing the area for video footage and eyewitnesses who may have seen the man before he reached the bridge or whether people recognized the bicycle.

News 603 posted video of Concord firefighters on the river.

Around 3 p.m., Concord fire and rescue teams began demobilizing their search, transitioning to a recovery operation with Marine Patrol and Bow searching the southern side of the river.

According to dispatch, an object was found in the river about 15 minutes later near the Bow boat launch on River Road. The object, believed to be the man’s backpack, was brought to shore. A Concord police detective was seen at the boat launch inspecting the backpack and the belongings inside it.

At around 3:30 p.m., all Concord firefighters were reported out of the water. An Allenstown fire boat unit, preparing to be a backup, was placed back into service.

Bow firefighters on the water reported searching the entire river to Garvins Falls and back. They went back into service around 4:30 p.m.

Several area firefighters and EMTs covered Concord during the operation.

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Concord NH Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.

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