Woman rescued after jumping from Washington Street bridge

Rescuers were able to pull a woman from the water after she jumped from the Washington Street bridge in Brainerd Wednesday afternoon.

A passerby reported she saw the woman climb over a fence on the south side of the Washington Street bridge and stopped to talk to her and try to convince her to come back. While the good Samaritan was on the phone with the emergency dispatcher, the female refused to come back and subsequently jumped into the Mississippi River below.

Emergency responders were on the scene quickly and went down the eastern shore of the river by the Dairy Queen to retrieve the woman from the water. She was conscious but wasn't cooperating with rescuers.

An Essentia Health physician, who was driving down the bridge and witnessed the jump, also stopped to try to help with medical needs if that was necessary.

The woman was transported to the hospital.

Another witness reported seeing the woman fall backward into the water from the bridge and also stopped to try to get her out of the water but saw rescuers were able to get her out of the water quickly.

Brainerd police, North Memorial Ambulance crews and the Brainerd Fire Department responded to the scene.