The third installment of this series which lists popular public places where people commit suicide. While the media tends to play up suicides in popular public places less than 3% of all suicides actually occur in places like the ones listed here but when they do happen in public it is there for all to see.

In my second year at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts a distraught man jumped to his death from the YMCA building roof on Huntington Ave with a pillow case tied over his head. Northeastern rented out the top two floors of the 10 story YMCA building and I was living on the top floor at the time. I did not see the man jump but some of my friends walking back from class did and when they told me we all ran to the end of the long floor to look out the window where the man landed. It was not a pretty site as blood pooled and colored the pillow case around the man’s head and we watched as rescue workers tried to save the man to no avail until Sean Jones, a mountain of a man who would go on to play pro football in the NFL for 12 seasons who also attended Northeastern and lived on the same floor we did, wanted to have a look. The window was not big enough for the 6 foot 7 inch Jones and anybody else to look but we had seen enough anyway. You don’t ever forget seeing something like that.

Colorado Street Bridge also Known as Suicide Bridge

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Located in Pasadena, California, the Colorado Street Bridge or Suicide Bridge is 1,467 feet long and 150 feet high and spans the Arroyo Seco, which is a deep cut canyon that links the San Gabriel Mountains with the Los Angeles River. The bridge was constructed in 1913 and at least 100 people committed suicide by leaping into the Arroyo Seco from the Colorado Street Bridge by 1939. The bridge was long ago nicknamed the Suicide Bridge and many reports have surfaced that claim the bridge and Arroyo Seco are haunted today by the spirits of those who killed themselves here, see Is Colorado Street Bridge Really Haunted?.

Buttes Chaumont Bridge

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Located in The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, a public park in Paris, France, the Buttes Chaumont Bridge is 98 feet from the ground. It is not known how many people have committed suicide from this bridge but the Buttes Chaumont Bridge is much better known as Pont des Suicidés or Suicide Bridge.

George Washington Bridge, NYC

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Not to be confused with the George Washington Memorial Bridge in Seattle Washington which is better known as the Aurora Bridge and has seen its own number of suicides - Most Popular Suicide Sites. This George Washington Bridge spans the Hudson River between NYC and New Jersey. The GWB, as it is commonly called, is 4,760 feet long and 604 feet high and has two decks. The upper level was opened in 1931 and the lower level in 1962. It is not known exactly how many people have committed suicide by leaping from the George Washington Bridge but it is believed that roughly 10 people leap from the GWB per year.

Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge

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Located over Rock Creek in Washington DC, this bridge was originally called the Calvert Street Bridge but the name was changed in the 1970’s to the Duke Ellington Bridge in honor of Duke Ellington. The bridge was the site of numerous suicides until the 1980’s when a security fence and railings were added. Many locals complain the fence obscures the fine views of Rock Creek below but what can you do?

Foyle and Craigavon Bridges

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Located in Derry in Northern Ireland these two bridges cross the Foyle River. Craigavon Bridge was opened in 1933 and Foyle Bridge in 1984. It is believed that somewhere between 3 to 10 people per year combined commit suicide leaping from these two bridges.

The Tower (Main Building University of Texas at Austin)

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Located at the center of the University of Texas at Austin, the Tower is a 28 story structure that replaced the main structure on the campus in 1937. Many people objected to the replacement of the old structure with the Tower and maybe they were right.

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The Tower has seen at least 9 people leap to their deaths from it and in 1966, sociopath Charles Whitman barricaded himself in the observation deck with a rifle and killed 14 people on the ground below. The observation deck was closed after this incident until 1968 but once reopened was the scene of a series of suicide jumps until it was closed again in 1974. After the installation of security and safety measures, the observation deck reopened to the public in 1999.

Minar-e-Pakistan

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Minar-e-Pakistan is a 203 foot high minaret located in Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan. The minaret was built to commemorate the Lahore Resolution which was a political statement of greater independence by the Muslim population leading to the creation of Pakistan as an independent country. It is not known how many people committed suicide by leaping from the Minar-e-Pakistan but the numbers were high enough that the top of the structure is now closed off to the public.

Västerbron

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The Västerbron is an arch bridge located in Stockholm, Sweden. It has been the scene of many suicides including Anders Göthberg, who was a guitarist in the Swedish cult indie band Broder Daniel, who committed suicide by jumping off the bridge in 2008.

Brooklyn Bridge

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One of the most famous bridges in the world, the Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River and connects the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and has been the site of hundreds of suicides. While the Brooklyn Bridge was being constructed an estimated 20-30 workers were also killed including the designer of the bridge, John Augustus Roebling, whose foot was crushed against a pylon by a ferry while he was surveying the site and he died within weeks from complications after refusing conventional medical attention.  

See also Most Popular Suicide Sites 2