Woman jumps from Metro tracks

A woman committed suicide by jumping from an elevated portion of the Metro Blue Line tracks in Florence on Wednesday morning.

Authorities said the woman, whose name is being withheld, was 25 to 28 years old and was known by deputies in the area as someone who had mental health issues.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received a call at 7:23 a.m. reporting that the woman was creating a disturbance near the tracks south of Slauson Station, which are raised about four stories off the ground.

“Right away we closed the tracks in both directions for safety,” said sheriff ’s Lt. John Sullivan, watch commander for the transit policing division.

Deputies quickly arrived on scene and tried to talk the woman away from the edge. She appeared agitated and was yelling and screaming, Sullivan said.

At one point, she appeared to be talking to pigeons on the tracks.

Deputies “attempted to talk with her and attempted to get fire personnel in place, but it all went too fast,” Sullivan said.

At 7:43 a.m. she jumped, falling about 40 feet.

Within minutes, she was taken to L.A. County USC Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Trying to convince suicidal individuals not to jump is better than physically pulling them away from the edge, Sullivan said.

“Grabbing the person could cause them to jump if they’re not going to jump,” he said. “In the worst case it would cause the deputy to go down with her.”

Rail service was interrupted between the Washington and Florence stations for more than an hour.

Single-track service was resumed at 8:28 a.m. and full service was restored at 9:30 a.m.

Following normal procedure, buses were brought in to accommodate passengers while the tracks were closed.

“Unfortunately,” Sullivan said, “people attempt suicide on trains with a greater frequency than we’d like.”