man and a woman holding hands — neither wearing clothes — pulled their SUV over on the Tappan Zee Bridge on Tuesday morning and jumped from the span.
The body of Alfa Choice, 29, was pulled from the Hudson River under the bridge a short time later. Christopher Shears, 44, was rescued alive but in extremely critical condition, officials said. He is alive this morning, police said.
Choice and Shears, originally from the Bronx, lived in Ithaca, N.Y., officials said.
Shears was taken by Nyack Ambulance Corps and Rockland Paramedic Services to Nyack Hospital, where he was said to have undergone surgery. His condition remained critical Tuesday evening, officials said.
Shears' mother, Cassie Shears-Scott, 61, was preparing late this morning to return to the hospital, where she said her son remains in critical condition.
“I’m trying to get to the hospital right now,” she told The Journal News from her Bronx home at 11 a.m. “I’m just going to tell him ‘mommy loves him.’”
She said she didn’t know Alfa Choice well, but said she just knew “of her.”
She said she was too distraught to speak about the bridge jump, or talk much about her only son - whose father is deceased - other than to say: “He’s a sweet, kind person. He loves people and is just a real decent person who gets along with people well.”
Tuesday's drama began at 9 a.m., when construction workers on the bridge saw a tan Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by Shears, pull over in a southbound lane of the bridge on the Westchester County side.
State Police Investigator Joseph Becerra said the couple exited the SUV and then climbed a wall and a fence to reach the work platform from which they jumped. Witnesses said the naked couple were holding hands before they plunged.
Construction workers under the bridge were the first to reach the victims; Piermont and Nyack firefighters assisted in the rescue. State police were also at the scene.
Becerra said the double jump is being investigated as a possible double-suicide attempt.
Investigators searched the couple's Chevrolet, but Becerra would not comment on the contents. Police do not believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the couple's actions, but were waiting for toxicology reports.
The motivation behind the double jump remained unclear Tuesday night.
"There's an ongoing investigation to determine what their reasons were," Becerra said. "We're looking at whether they were distraught or if there were other underlying issues."
Police Tuesday evening were investigating the nature of the couple's relationship. Becerra said investigators believed Choice and Shears lived together in Ithaca, but provided no address.
Not long after the two leapt from the Tappan Zee Bridge, a man jumped to his death from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in Beacon, N.Y., state police said.
William C. Myers, 65, of Middletown drove his 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt to the westbound side of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge about 9:45 a.m., walked to the edge and jumped, one witness told police.
It took emergency responders nearly three hours to recover Myers' body, which was taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, officials said. Police described the investigation into Meyers' death as ongoing. An autopsy was scheduled for today.
Choice is the third person this year to die after jumping from the Tappan Zee Bridge. A 58-year-old Mamaroneck man, Jeffrey Waldhuter, died after jumping from the bridge in April. Just weeks earlier — in March — Andres Jaramillo, 53, of Stamford, Conn., jumped to his death.
At least four people plunged from the span and died in 2010. The year before that, there were at least 10 suicides or attempted suicides from the bridge.
In 2009, the New York State Thruway Authority spent $4.5 million to install barriers to try to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. In addition, eight suicide prevention hotline telephones were installed on the span.
Those telephones have never been used by a person considering suicide, said R.W. Groneman, a spokesman for the New York State Thruway Authority. The phones are checked monthly by Thruway staff to make sure they work, he said. The barriers have not stopped people from jumping over the rails.
"People who are determined to circumvent barriers are sometimes successful," Groneman said.
Anyone with any information regarding the jumpers on the Tappan Zee Bridge should contact the New York State Police Department at 914-524-0223. Those with information about the incident on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge should call state police Investigator J.A. Fiebich at 845-298-0952 or 845-677-7300.
The motivation behind the double jump remained unclear Tuesday night.
"There's an ongoing investigation to determine what their reasons were," Becerra said. "We're looking at whether they were distraught or if there were other underlying issues."
Police Tuesday evening were investigating the nature of the couple's relationship. Becerra said investigators believed Choice and Shears lived together in Ithaca, but provided no address.
Not long after the two leapt from the Tappan Zee Bridge, a man jumped to his death from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in Beacon, N.Y., state police said.
William C. Myers, 65, of Middletown drove his 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt to the westbound side of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge about 9:45 a.m., walked to the edge and jumped, one witness told police.
It took emergency responders nearly three hours to recover Myers' body, which was taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, officials said. Police described the investigation into Meyers' death as ongoing. An autopsy was scheduled for today.
Choice is the third person this year to die after jumping from the Tappan Zee Bridge. A 58-year-old Mamaroneck man, Jeffrey Waldhuter, died after jumping from the bridge in April. Just weeks earlier — in March — Andres Jaramillo, 53, of Stamford, Conn., jumped to his death.
At least four people plunged from the span and died in 2010. The year before that, there were at least 10 suicides or attempted suicides from the bridge.
In 2009, the New York State Thruway Authority spent $4.5 million to install barriers to try to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. In addition, eight suicide prevention hotline telephones were installed on the span.
Those telephones have never been used by a person considering suicide, said R.W. Groneman, a spokesman for the New York State Thruway Authority. The phones are checked monthly by Thruway staff to make sure they work, he said. The barriers have not stopped people from jumping over the rails.
"People who are determined to circumvent barriers are sometimes successful," Groneman said.
Anyone with any information regarding the jumpers on the Tappan Zee Bridge should contact the New York State Police Department at 914-524-0223. Those with information about the incident on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge should call state police Investigator J.A. Fiebich at 845-298-0952 or 845-677-7300.
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