Bristol Police have confirmed that a 40-year-old Barrington man died after a fall off the Mt. Hope Bridge early Wednesday morning. According to sources outside the Bristol Police Department, including other media, the victim is Tiverton Middle School Assistant Principal David Frerichs.

Bristol Police Capt. Brian Burke said their department received a call at 5:30 a.m. on April 11 from someone reporting an abandoned vehicle near the top of the Mt. Hope Bridge, which connects Bristol to Portsmouth. Officers responded and found a running vehicle in the southbound lane of the bridge. They confirmed that the vehicle was empty, and they did not see anyone on the bridge.

Rescue boats from Bristol and Warren fire departments and the Bristol Harbormaster's Office responded to the area. Shortly before 7 a.m., they found a body in the water southeast of Hog Island. They transported the victim to the Church Street dock in Bristol, confirmed the identity, and turned the body over to the Rhode Island Medical Examiner's Office.

Bristol Police would not identify the man, other than saying he was a 40-year-old from Barrington.

A few hours after the body was recovered, the Tiverton School Department released a statement saying their assistant principal had died unexpectedly that morning. Mr. Frerichs had been in the role since 2012, after teaching science at the school for years prior.