Suicidal incident shuts down I-90

COEUR d'ALENE — Several lanes of Interstate 90 were closed for an hour Tuesday morning as a man contemplated suicide on the Yellowstone Trail bridge east of Coeur d'Alene.

With medical personnel on standby and the help of negotiators, law enforcement detained the middle-aged male before he harmed himself or jumped from the bridge. He sat on a jersey barrier on the bridge and faced west with his back to the westbound lanes of the freeway below during the incident, according to emergency responders.

"He stopped his car on Interstate 90 next to the center median (in an eastbound lane), then walked up on the bridge," said Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Kevin Smart. "The first call came out as an abandoned vehicle on the freeway. Then another call came when he was on the bridge."

Traffic was detoured or stopped from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Idaho State Police, the Idaho Transportation department and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue assisted the KCSO during the incident.