Watchdog investigating woman’s fatal fall from Vancouver bridge

Granville Island and the Granville Street Bridge are seen from the air in spring 2019. (Pete Cline / CTV News Vancouver)

Warning: This story contains references to suicide.

The death of a woman who fell from Vancouver’s Granville Street Bridge this week is being investigated by a provincial police watchdog.

The Independent Investigations Office is tasked with reviewing all officer-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm, regardless of whether there’s an allegation of wrongdoing against law enforcement.

Members of the Vancouver Police Department were called to the busy crossing around 3 p.m. Tuesday after a woman was reportedly “standing on the outside of the railing,” the IIO said in a news release Thursday.

“Officers closed the road and attempted to communicate with the woman for several hours,” the watchdog added.

The woman fell to her death around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, and the IIO was notified later that day.

• Related: Barrier needed on Vancouver bridge after another suicide death, advocates say

Police have said little about the interaction, except that they were told the woman was experiencing a “mental health emergency,” and that the incident was not criminal in nature.

“VPD negotiators and the Emergency Response Team were engaged from the very beginning and did everything they could for her,” the department said in an email.

IIO investigators will next be working to determine whether there was any connection between the woman’s death and the action—or inaction—of officers on scene.

The incident has renewed calls for suicide-prevention fencing on the Granville Street Bridge, similar to what’s already in place on the neighbouring Burrard Street Bridge.

City council voted to cut funding for the precautionary barriers from its capital plan for 2027-2030 earlier this year. Officials have said the fencing remains part of the city’s long-term plan for upgrading the bridge.

There were 21 suicide “incidents” on the crossing between 2019 and 2024, six of them fatal, according to a motion calling for suicide fencing that was brought forward two years ago.

There have been zero suicide deaths on the Burrard Street Bridge since barriers were installed there in 2017, according to the Crisis Centre of B.C.

The IIO asked anyone with information on Tuesday’s incident to call the watchdog’s toll-free witness line at 1-800-446-8477 or fill out the contact form on its website.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Lisa Steacy and The Canadian Press

If you or someone you know is in crisis or struggling with mental illness, here are some resources that are available:

• Canada Suicide Crisis Helpline (Call or text 988)
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1-800-463-2338)
• Crisis Services Canada (Call 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645)
• Kids Help Phone [phone])

If you need immediate assistance, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.