On Monday night, a man was found dead after jumping off of a New Jersey highway bridge wit his two children in his arms. The kids were not killed in the 100-foot fall, but were seriously injured.
A New Jersey State Police spokesman said 37-year-old John Spincken from Pequannock jumped from an overpass and into a wooded area near the Wanaque River, according to Police. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The police announced that the children were of the ages 1 and 3.
Shortly after 8 p.m., police troopers responded to a report from Interstate 287 when police “were notified that a suicidal man may have jumped from the Wanaque Bridge with his two sons after he was involved in a domestic dispute in Pequannock Township,” according to a statement law enforcement officials released on Tuesday.
Spincken somehow managed to get past an eight-foot fence before leaping at least 20 feet off the bridge, according to People.
The police spokesman confirmed that the children were taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson. They were “being treated for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.”
“When the officers found the children conscious and alert, it was nothing short of a miracle, that’s for sure,” Capt. Christopher DePuyt of the Pequannock Township Police Department said during a news conference Tuesday.
The trees that were underneath the bridge where the man jumped seemed to cushion their fall.
“I, like anybody that’s hearing this story now or last night, if you hear the beginning of the story you’re expecting the worst,” said Cpt. DePuyt.
There has been no confirmation as to why the man jumped. However, the police are of the belief that the act was intentional.
The drama ensued on Monday night after the police responded to a Pequannock Township residence for a domestic dispute call, according to Depuyt.
The children’s mother communicated to the officers that she had argued with her husband before he threatened to harm the children. He then proceeded to take off with their 1-year-old and 3-year-old boys in his car, according to the police statement.
Spincken’s vehicle was found near the bridge.
The father was pronounced dead at the scene while the children were injured but conscious.
The incident is currently under investigation. The police are trying to determine whether the father actually jumped with the children in his arms, or whether he threw them off the bridge before jumping.
