A 43-year-old Mount Vernon man shocked several onlookers by jumping off Deception Pass bridge Tuesday morning, dying instantly upon striking a rocky beach 185 feet below.

Chief Criminal Deputy William Reichardt with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said the office received a call at about 8:30 a.m. from a citizen who witnessed the man climb over the railing and leap from the bridge.

Reichardt said officers from Skagit County, Island County and the State Patrol responded, but there was little they could do at that point besides help recover the body.

The man parked his car on the Skagit County side of the bridge and then jumped from the northern span. With the low tides, he struck the beach on the Skagit side. Firefighters from Island County Fire District 2 motored the district’s boat from Cornet Bay and helped recover the body.

The man was transported on the boat to Bowman Bay, where the Skagit County coroner was waiting.

Trooper William Dennis said a couple of road construction workers at the scene were visibly shaken from witnessing the suicide. He even called paramedics to look at one of the men, who seemed to be experiencing a great deal of anxiety over the incident.