UPDATE: Both southbound lanes are now open.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Both southbound lanes on the Causeway Bridge are closed while police respond to an attempted suicide on the bridge.
Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou said about 9:30 a.m., a small black SUV drove through the toll plaza without paying. When officers caught up with the vehicle about a third of the way down the bridge, the vehicle hit two different rails. Officers got out of their vehicle and found that the man had shot himself while driving.
He was taken to a hospital on the South Shore. His condition is unknown.
Because a weapon was discharged, it’s being treated as a crime scene. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation.
Dufrechou said the southbound bridge could be closed for two hours. The northbound bridge is open.