Authorities today released the identity of a woman who died after slipping through the grasp of a Birmingham police officer trying to keep her from jumping off an interstate overpass.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Johnny Long identified the woman as 34-year-old Nicole Nixon of southwest Birmingham.

Nixon died Thursday morning about 4 a.m. after she fell from the Ensley Avenue bridge onto Interstate 20/59.

Police had received multiple calls about the woman. When police arrived, one of the officers tried to pull her to safety but she fell and was struck by a Ford Taurus traveling southbound.

Police officials said it was a tragic situation.

"The officer made a valiant effort to put himself in harm's way to save another human being," said Capt. Moody Duff, patrol commander. "He regrets that she died and wished that he could have prevented it."

"He is handling it well, but situations like these naturally weigh on all of us," Duff said. "I was on the scene a few years ago when a man committed suicide, and I still think about it occasionally. You cannot forget it."