Carl Vinson Sailor Stops Attempted Suicide Atop Coronado Bay Bridge

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Nicolas Lopez, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- A USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Sailor helped prevent a suicide attempt on the Coronado Bay Bridge, June 19.

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) 1st Class (AW/SW) David Lawrence, Air Department's V4 Division maintenance leading petty officer, first responded to a 60-year-old man's suicide attempt approximately 4 a.m. after pulling over to assist with what he thought would be a flat tire.

Lawrence, on his way to the gym before work, saw the car in front of him slow and pull to the side of the bridge near the bridge's apex.

"I saw he was an older guy and he didn't have his hazard [lights] on, so I didn't want him to get hit - and he was in a black Fiat and it was dark out," Lawrence said. "Most people going over the bridge at that time won't be paying attention; they're just trying to wake up."

However, Lawrence's decision to stop was rooted in his deeply held belief that one's actions have direct consequences, either positive or negative.

"I try to help anybody I can. What comes around goes around - I sincerely believe that," Lawrence said. "Somebody is returning the favors. My health is good. My family's health is all good. [So I take] any opportunity I get to help somebody."

As Lawrence asked the driver if he needed assistance, he watched as the man climbed over the concrete barrier and onto the bridge's ledge.

"I stopped right where I was at," Lawrence said. "I put my hands up where he could see them; I didn't want to make any hasty moves."

Lawrence immediately called upon the training he received while deployed in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program. Lawrence said the information and intervention skills he learned from the two-day workshop helped him that morning.

"Just ACT: ask, care, treat," Lawrence said. "I didn't get to the 'treat' part; the FBI negotiators and cops got that. But I asked the guy."

Lawrence's actions also proved how important how the "care" aspect is as well. When asked by the police if he wanted to leave the scene, Lawrence declined.

"I told the cops that I was the first one talking to him," Lawrence said. "I don't know if this guy got abandoned by someone and so I didn't want him to see me get in my car and leave. So I stayed there the whole time."

For 15 to 20 minutes, Lawrence talked to the man, trying to prevent him from jumping while also flagging passing drivers to call for assistance. Aware of the magnitude of his choice of words, Lawrence said he talked about his experiences in the U.S. Navy.

"My thought was, 'Please don't jump. How am I going to keep this guy from jumping? What can I possibly say that will make him think it's not worth it?'" Lawrence said. "I just talked about everything I did and tried to let him see that there's positive stuff out there."

California Highway Patrol and San Diego Police Officers arrived approximately 20 minutes after Lawrence's initial communication with the man and assumed suicide prevention efforts. FBI agents, California Highway Patrol and San Diego Police Officers successfully talked the man off the ledge and took him into custody shortly before 7 a.m.

Before his morning was over, an FBI agent informed Lawrence the man wished to see him.

"He was just standing there with a jacket on, looked at me and said, 'Thanks,'" Lawrence said. "I said, 'Hey, man, you made the right choice. I'm glad to see you're on this side of the ledge. Have a good day and be safe.'"

Lawrence, a quiet and humble U.S. Navy Sailor, said he feels little difference since Tuesday morning, shrugging off any accolades given him.

"I'd do it again today, if I had to," Lawrence said. "People are saying I'm a hero and thanking me, but I'd like to think if I didn't do it, somebody would have stopped and did it."

San Diego Police Officers

Editor's Note: One of the authors is a former servicemember.

October 17, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists nearly 800 state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three San Diego police officers.

Jay Farrington has been a police officer since 1995. He is a member of the San Diego Police Department where he has worked in assignments such as patrol, SWAT/Primary Response Team and a Graffiti Strike Force. He is a court recognized expert in gangs and graffiti related crimes. Jay Farrington is the author of the novel Domestic Terrorism.

According to the book description of Domestic Terrorism, “Somewhere between reality and fiction lies the essence of Jay Farrington's compelling first novel, Domestic Terrorism. A real-life street cop, Farrington expertly tells the tale of Wes MacGregor - a street-wise law enforcement veteran whose prophetic vision of the degeneration of America's teenagers comes hauntingly true. Farrington introduces us to child armies who have turned away from their dysfunctional families, to gain the acceptance of a maniacal father figure, hell-bent on exacting his revenge on society in general, and Wes in particular. Ripped from real life events, Domestic Terrorism is a shockingly smart page-turner you won't soon forget.”

A twenty-five year veteran of law enforcement, Kevin Means is a Flight Officer with the San Diego Police Department’s Air Support Unit. Kevin Means is also the past president of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association and the author of Tactical Helicopter Missions. According to the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, Kevin Means has published the “how to” book on tactical helicopter operations. The book covers everything from the basic to the complex tasks of law enforcement operations to enhance the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the airborne operation. Means takes the reader along a very well organized journey from understanding technology to dissecting the various types of missions that airborne law enforcement units are now conducting.

Although the book is not all-inclusive, Means addresses the age-old problem with law enforcement operations in confronting the “we’ve always done it this way” attitude. Realizing that it would be unrealistic to think his book can and will work for all operations, Means gives us something to ponder about all facets of a safe airborne law enforcement operation.”

Lieutenant John Morrison served in combat as a Marine sergeant, and retired as a senior lieutenant from the San Diego Police Department, having served there as Director of Training, Commanding Officer of SWAT and division executive officer. He has taught, written and lectured widely on training, tactics and leadership. John Morrison is the co-author of Contact & Cover: Two-Officer Suspect Control.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 777 police officers (representing 350 police departments) and their 1660 law enforcement books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.

Paranormal Fiction, Westerns and True Crime

Editor's Note: One of the writers if former military.

Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. The website added three police officers: Candace Sams; Craig Johnson and Timothy Carney.

Candace Sams had an eleven year law enforcement career. She was a police officer for the Texas A & M University and the San Diego Police Department. She has a BS in Agriculture from Texas A & M University. Candace Sams is the senior woman on the U.S. Kung Fu Team, awarded the Medal of Putien from China and the Statue of Tao for martial arts, holder of several International Martial Arts Titles, and is an Award Winning author of Fantasy fiction. She is the author of six books: Stone Heart; Gryphon's Quest; The Craftsman; The Gazing Globe; Goblin Moon; and, is a contributing author to the anthology Wyrd Wravings: An Anthology of Humorous Speculative Fiction.

Candace Sams book Gypon’s Quest was awarded the Road to Romance Readers’ Choice Award for best paranormal book. According to the book description of Gypon’s Quest, “The Sorceress of the Ancients sends a Druid Warrior on a mission. He must retrieve three rune stones that were stolen from an ancient, Irish burial site. Can he recover them before the world learns of their powers? Can he keep a mythic Order of creatures safe? Will revealing his secrets, to the woman he loves, cost them both their lives?”

Craig Johnson is a former New York Police Department police officer who worked both the 23rd and Central Park Precincts. He has received both critical and popular praise for his novels The Cold Dish and Death Without Company with starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist. The Cold Dish and Death Without Company have been made Booksense 76 selections by the Independent Booksellers Association, and Killer Picks by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. On its day of release in Penguin paperback, The Cold Dish began a six-week run on the Barnes & Noble top-fifty best-sellers list.

Death Without Company was selected by Booklist as one of the top-ten mysteries of 2006 and has been nominated for the Wyoming Historical Society as it's fiction book of the year. His first short story, Old Indian Trick, won a Tony Hillerman Mystery Short Story Award and appeared in Cowboys & Indians Magazine.

Craig Johnson’s third in the Walt Longmire series, Kindness Goes Unpunished, was released March of 2007. According to Booklist, in Kindness Goes Unpunished, “Absaroka County, Wyoming, Sheriff Walt Longmire goes on a rare road trip in this third entry in a consistently entertaining series. The trip has two purposes: visit Walt's daughter, Cady, a lawyer in Philadelphia, and support his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, who is the guest of honor at the opening of an exhibit of Native American photographs. Plans change quickly when Cady, the victim of a vicious attack, hovers near death.”

Timothy Carney was raised in an orphanage in the Midwest. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served thirteen months in Vietnam. Upon discharge, he joined the Orange County sheriff's Department. He worked in various capacities for the Orange County sheriff’s Department as an investigator, including narcotics and homicide. After serving as a homicide investigator and a sergeant, he was promoted to lieutenant. Timothy Carney is a graduate of Regis University, Denver, Colorado.

Timothy Carney co-authored Final Affair, a truce crime book. According to the book description, “When Janet Overton died from "unexplained causes," no one in her Orange County community suspected foul play. But a year later, Sheriff's Investigator Tim Carney sensed something amiss in this so-called "nothing case"-and uncovered the shocking truth about Dr. Richard Overton's past.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 535 police officers (representing 219 police departments) and their 1142 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.