Steve Shoemaker and Jerry Bledsoe - Brief Article

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, May, 2000

Officers Steve Shoemaker and Jerry Bledsoe of the Scott County, Missouri, Sheriffs Office were dispatched to a report of a man attempting to hang himself from a railroad trestle bridge. When the officers arrived at the scene, they located a man standing on the bridge with a rope tied around his neck.

The man said his wife left him and took his children; therefore, he felt he had no reason to live. Officers Shoemaker and Bledsoe spent over an hour talking to the man. When it was obvious that he intended to jump, the officers began to maneuver themselves closer, in different directions, making it difficult for the man to watch them. As Officer Shoemaker attracted his attention, Officer Bledsoe leaped to the edge of the bridge, grabbed the man by the arm and held him until Officer Shoemaker could assist him. The officers struggled with the man as they hung from the edge of the bridge and removed the rope from the man's neck. Officer Bledsoe received minor injuries during the incident. Later, the man later told Officer Shoemaker that he fully intended to kill himself. Heroic actions by Officers Shoemaker and Bledsoe saved the man's life.