On April 21, 2024, at approximately 2114 hours Officers with Columbia Borough Police were dispatched to a disabled vehicle along State Route 30. While en route, the West Hempfield Police Department received a call for a suicidal male sitting on the railing of the bridge over the Susquehanna River. It was reported that the male left a message stating that he would jump. Cpl. Andrew Snyder and Officer Jack Kopp arrived to find a distraught male straddling the bridge railing. Upon verbally engaging the male Officers tactically approached and grabbed the subject, preventing him from going over the edge. Officers spoke compassionately with the male, getting him to calm down. When an ambulance arrived, the subject became very tense and attempted to pull himself over the edge of the bridge into the water. Both Officers pulled the male down from the railing by removing his grasp. Cpl. Snyder and Officer Kopp maintained control over the subject as he continued to struggle with officers. As additional officers arrived, the male was taken into custody and placed into an ambulance for transport to a local hospital.
It is through the quick action by both officers and a disregard for their own safety that the male was saved.
Both Corporal Snyder and Officer Kopp were recognized at the Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
