Thank God for the men and women in blue! One officer in a suburb North of Chicago deserves some extra Christmas presents this year because of his heroics.
Officer C. Harris, a cop with the Waukegan Police Department, stopped a 17-year-old girl from jumping in front of a train with the purpose of committing suicide. Body cam footage was released documenting the situation.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
Officers received a call at 1:40 a.m. from a girl who said her 17-year-old sister was going to take her own life by standing in front of a train, Waukegan police said in a statement.
Dispatchers located the 17-year-old by tracing her cellphone’s location to Metra tracks at South Avenue, police said.
Officers raced to the area and searched for the girl with their flashlights. Then as the crossing gates started to close, the girl stepped out from behind a mechanical shed and moved toward the approaching train.
That’s when Officer C. Harris yelled, “Come here, come here,” and then sprinted and tackled the girl, police said.
You can watch the heroic rescue below:
"I am extremely proud of these officers who, through their heroic actions, saved the life of a young woman," Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles said in a statement, according to the Sun-Times. "I am just as proud of our dispatch professionals who utilized their resources to locate the area of where this young woman was and directed the responding officers to find her."
The rescue happened on December 7th, and people on Twitter praised both Officer Harris and law enforcement:
Great job, Officer Harris!
Just as the Sun-Times noted, “Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts can find help by calling 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255.”