A man and a teenage girl were rescued from the Cumberland River despite the man's efforts to hamper the rescue mission.
Police said the man and the teenager were driving on Interstate 24 East around 1:30 a.m. Sunday in a white van when the man stopped on the Silliman Evans Bridge.
PHOTOS: Police Investigating After 2 Rescued From River
"Station 9 got a dispatch that we had someone on the bridge and that they had possibly both jumped," said Nashville Fire Department Captain Tim Holmes. "As far as details on who went first, we don't know."
There were mixed reports from witnesses on how the man and teenager made it from the bridge into the water. Multiple fire department boats were launched into the Cumberland River near Nissan Stadium, and according to Holmes, the man wouldn't let firefighters throw the teenager a life jacket and refused to get onto the boat.
"We couldn't get him in the boat so we just had to, kind of, floated down the river with him and stayed in front of him," Captain Holmes said.
Holmes said they floated about three-quarters of a mile to the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian bridge before he became too exhausted and allowed fire firefighters to rescue them.
"Just to survive the fall is a big deal and to float half a mile down the river is another big deal. I'm glad that we got them, and we were able to do something good for them," Captain Holmes said.
It wasn't clear if the man or teenager were seriously hurt.
The teenager was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The man was transported to an undisclosed hospital.
It wasn't immediately clear what the relationship was between the man and teenager.
