EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The call came in about 6 p.m. Someone was on the Potter Street overpass, past the suicide fence, apparently about to jump onto Route 195.
Officer Ryan Vose, 29, took the call. He happened to be in the area.
As he approached, Vose said, he saw the teenaged boy sitting on a cement ledge on the other side of the fence, his legs dangling over the traffic. The youth was holding onto the fence with his fingertips, Vose recounted Wednesday.
Vose said he realized his best option -- really, his only option -- was to get the teen to walk off. The fence, supposed to prevent suicides, stood exasperatingly between him and the teen.
He turned off the police car's lights and sirens so as to not startle the boy and walked slowly.
The youth's expression was "very blank, stoic," Vose recalled. Tears were running down his cheeks.
For about five minutes, Vose tried to make a connection with the teen, asking him simple questions about his life, his family.
Rhode Island State Trooper Sean McGerhearty joined while other troopers shut down the highway, the East Providence police said Tuesday night.
"Is there something we can talk about?" Vose recalled asking.
He repeated the questions until the boy responded. He was 16.
"He looked straight ahead with a blank stare and sort of kept leaning forward," Vose said. "I kind of thought the worst."