WANAQUE -- A miracle.

That's how police are describing the fact that two young brothers survived a 100-foot plunge from an interstate bridge Monday night, a horrifying fall that police say started in the arms of their suicidal father.

Not only did the boys, 1 and 3, survive, but both suffered only minor injuries in the plunge that killed their father, police said. The pair sustained concussions, and bumps and bruises, and the younger child suffered a bruised lung.

"It's literally a miracle they survived," Pequannock Police Capt. Chris DePuyt said.

The brothers remained at St. Joseph's Medical Center on Tuesday morning.

"The children are in fair condition," said Liz Asani, spokeswoman for St. Joseph's Health Care. Asani would not comment on when the boys could be released from the hospital.

The father was identified Tuesday morning as John Spincken, 37, of Greenview Drive in Pequannock. Spincken and his wife, Frances, purchased their home in June, according to property tax records.

DePuyt said the boys' survival could be the result of how they fell -- into an area where trees may have broken their fall. Their father, however, apparently went straight to the ground without hitting trees.

"I was expecting the worst outcome when I arrived at the scene, and I was amazed last night and even this morning on the condition of the children," DePuyt said.

DePuyt said a woman called Pequannock police around 7 p.m. to report that her friend's husband had threatened to harm the couple's children before leaving their Greenview Drive home with the boys.

Spincken stopped his SUV on the southbound side of Route 287, on an elevated section of the highway over the Wanaque River, and jumped with the boys in his arms, police said. Cops located him using his phone's GPS data.

The only way the man could have gotten over the side of the bridge, he said, was to climb on top of his car in order to get over the fence that lines the road.

The police captain said it was "by the grace of God and the prompt response" from first responders, including police from Pequannock, Wanaque, Oakland and the State Police that helped save the boys' lives.

On Greenview Drive, neighbor Tom Gitin said he learned about the incident from his cousin who had texted him this morning.

He's never met the Spincken family. "That's a terrible thing," he said. "How could you do that do your children? A one-year-old has nothing to do with that."

Staff Writer Myles Ma contributed to this story.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.