Thurston County Coroner identifies man who fell from 5th Avenue bridge

Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock has identified the man who died underneath the Fifth Avenue bridge after an apparent fall earlier this week.

Warnock identified the man as Jamal Johns, 25, who has no known address. Warnock told The Olympian Johns died of blunt force injuries that were sustained from falling off the bridge.

On Tuesday night, the Olympia Police Department received a call that a man had jumped from a bridge near Deschutes Parkway. Officers from both Olympia Police and Olympia Fire attempted CPR before a physician determined the efforts were of no use, the Olympian previously reported.

Warnock said it is not yet clear if Johns’ fall was an accident or if it was intentional. Olympia Police Lt. Paul Lower told The Olympian the incident is under investigation as a “suspicious death.”

Officers are contacting people living in the Deschutes Parkway encampments who witnessed the incident, as well as the Johns family to determine what happened, Lower said.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 12:11 PM.