A man died Monday morning after plunging from a Loop 1604 overpass on the Northeast Side as officers were speaking with him, police said.

The man, who hadn't been identified, was struck by a semitrailer, whose driver was shaken by the incident, according to a police report.

The man was calm when two officers approached him as he sat on the Green Mountain Road overpass railing around 7 a.m., according to the report.

Police Sgt. Javier Salazar said the man didn't appear despondent.

The man was rubbing his right knee and told the officers he hurt it in a fall while walking to work, though officers could see no sign of injury.

After declining offers of EMS and a ride to work or to his home, one of the officers asked him if he was thinking of committing suicide, according to the report.

Without replying, the man “closed his eyes and pushed off the concrete barrier with both hands,” the report said.

The semitrailer was going west on Loop 1604 when its driver saw something land on the road, according to the report.

At first believing it was a deer, the driver used his emergency brake and tried to swerve. Just before the rig struck the object, he realized it was a person, the report said.

Officers reported the driver was “shaking uncontrollably and frightened.”

mmondo@express-news.net

Ana Ley contributed to this report.