Update: Roseville Teacher Jumped Off Stone Arch Bridge After DWI Arrest

Update (3:50 p.m):

Roseville School District 623 Superintendent John Thein issued the following statement today following news of the recent death of Jerome Gordon-Jackson, a Roseville special education teacher:

"Dear Friends:

Today Roseville Area Schools learned of the recent death of RAHS (Roseville Area High School) Teacher Assistant, Jerome Gordon-Jackson. This news is especially heartbreaking because Jerome was a young man, only 28, who just completed an advanced degree in education with a special focus on helping young people.

Jerome’s professional work assignment was the REACH room at Roseville Area High School, but his personal passion was to provide sound advice, good counsel and wise direction to the students of RAHS.

No student met Jerome without receiving a strong dose of Mr. Jackson’s special attention which included an update on their life, their plans and if their homework was up-to-date. Jerome cared about his kids……all kids and it showed.

Although Jerome’s time at Roseville Area High School was short, his impact was powerful and will be long-lasting. A friend described Jerome as an "amazing person who always stayed positive with the most beautiful smile in town."

Jerome, the students you supported and loved will miss you because you were an adult who really cared about them. They will miss you and that beautiful smile you shared with them each day.

Please keep our 623 Family member Jerome, his family and his many friends in your thoughts and prayers."

(Original post)

A Roseville teacher jumped to his death on the morning of May 18, just hours after being arrested and cited with drunken driving, according to a Pioneer Press article by Andy Greder.

Jerome Gordon-Jackson, 28, was a special education teacher at Roseville Area Schools. He was visiting downtown Minneapolis bars on the night of May 17 before being arrested at about 2 a.m. on suspision of driving while intoxicated, according to Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske and friend Josh Baker.

From the Pioneer Press article: 

Gordon-Jackson was "very cooperative" during testing at a Minneapolis police station, which showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.17, Roeske said. Gordon-Jackson, who lived with his grandmother in Dayton, Minn., had made arrangements to stay with a friend in Minneapolis, Baker and Roeske said. By 5:11 a.m. May 18, Gordon-Jackson jumped into the river, a Minneapolis police report said.

From a City Pages article:

In a blog post, one of Gordon-Jackson's friends wrote that he texted his sister about getting a ride from the police station after he was pulled over, but nobody heard from him after that. According to the friend's account, about 5 a.m., police received a report from a witness who said they saw Gordon-Jackson preparing to jump from the Stone Arch Bridge and tried to "talk him down." That effort, tragically, was unsuccessful.

READ THE PIONEER PRESS ARTICLE

READ THE CITY PAGES ARTICLE