Three heroic NYPD officers recounted on Thursday the dramatic moment they rescued a teen girl who leapt into the Harlem River in an attempt to take her own life.
The Nov. 11 incident, caught on body-worn camera, involved Police Officers Wilmer Guerrero, Ankit Gupta, and Shuaibul Amine of the 32nd Precinct. They jumped a fence near the corner of 142nd Street and Harlem River Drive just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday after spotting a 16-year-old girl in emotional distress.
The girl had just jumped into the cold waters below and was begging for help. Without hesitation, the cops went into action.
“We received a 911 call over an emotionally distressed female that wanted to throw herself off the bridge into the water. We started driving around to see if we could see anybody,” Guerrero told amNewYork. “We hopped over a gate to the location where she was at and once we were going to start approaching her to go talk to her, she threw herself in the water. And at that moment, my intuition kicked in to go help this girl.”
The harrowing bodycam video shows the young girl flailing in the water and desperately screaming for help, a sound that immediately sent chills down Officer Gupta’s spine when rewatching it.
“The only thing that resonated with me was, as soon as she jumped in the water, she was yelling for help,” Gupta said. “All I could hear from her was yelling for help, saying: ‘Help me. Please. I don’t want this anymore. Help me.’ That’s where our training kicked in.”
Guerrero immediately and literally jumped into action, removing his vest and gun belt before diving into the icy waters himself. Air temperatures didn’t get out of the 40s on Tuesday; the water temperature was in the mid-50s, but prolonged exposure to such cold water can send a person into hypothermia in mere minutes.
“She’s stating that she can’t swim. So obviously my fears are her possibly drowning, her possibly floating far away into the river. So, I just took quick action, jumped in the water. I was able to get a hold of her. I gave her some encouraging words while I was with her, that ‘we’re going to make it, we’re going to get through this.’ And I was just able to grab onto her and basically guide us to the edge of the shore,” Guerrero said. “Outside it was like 30 degrees. That water felt like at least 10 degrees. It was definitely cold.”
Meanwhile, as Guerrero pulled the girl to safety, Officer Amine was removing his uniform to aid his partner and the victim.
“I also had my gun belt, my jacket and vest off in case it was cold in the water. I was ready to jump in to get them out of the water,” Amine said. “I was able to help the female as Officer Guerrero made it to shore.”
The young girl was rushed to a nearby hospital and listed in stable condition. While they saved the teen’s life, the cops said they were just doing their jobs.
“Once you see someone in need, you just do the best that you can,” Gupta said.
“That’s what we sign up for,” Amine added.
