A man was in custody early Friday after holding police at bay for about three hours threatening to jump from a bridge over Langford Parkway.
The incident began about 3:30 a.m., and the man was taken into custody around 6:15, Atlanta police Capt. Adam Lee III told ajc.com.
The man had threatened to jump from a pedestrian overpass near Sylvan Road. The man was on the top of the fencing that surrounds the bridge.
Langford Parkway was shut down in both directions throughout the incident.
"Officers basically waited the person out," Lee said. "At one point, he fell asleep on top of the fence and that gave us more time to put out units in place."
Lee said that once the man woke up, "there was a hostage negotiator at the scene below where he was, and he decided to give up and come down, and we took him into custody."
He said the 23-year-old man climbed down from the fence, "the same way he went up, I imagine."
The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to be evaluated, Lee said.
"He didn't make any demands," Lee said. "I guess he was just distraught for some unknown reason."
Lee said the man was initially armed with a knife.
"One of the first officers on scene talked him into giving up the knife, and he dropped the knife through the fencing," Lee said.
The Atlanta Fire Department deployed an air bag below the bridge in case the man jumped or fell. Langford Parkway was reopened to traffic about 6:30 a.m.
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