Jefferson Co Deputy Talks Down Potential Jumper

Sunday afternoon, northbound lanes of Interstate 81 were shut down in Jefferson County for a short time as a man was threatening to jump from an overpass. The Jefferson County sheriff’s office says that shortly before 7pm Sunday they were called to the Carmichael Road overpass near mile marker 3 on I-81. An unidentified man was threatening to jump from the overpass onto the interstate below. The Tennessee Highway Patrol temporarily shutdown the northbound lanes of I-81 as a precaution. Sgt. Ransom Douglas with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office arrived on the scene and established a rapport with the troubled man. When the man became distracted, deputies and officers with the White Pine police department quickly and safely removed the man from the overpass. That man, whose identity was not released, was transported to Jefferson Memorial Hospital for an evaluation.