First responders rescue woman threatening to jump from 22-story building
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- First responders managed to pull off a dramatic rescue in Southern California -- they saved the life of a woman who threatened to jump from the roof of a 22-story building.
CBS Los Angeles reports the woman was perched on the side of a building, with her legs dangling from the ledge, when police and firefighters rushed in to save her on Thursday.
LAPD Officer Rodginald Cayette says he began talking to the distraught woman and tried to gain her trust.
"She was agitated with people coming closer," he said. "She didn't want anyone to come. She threatened to jump every time we got closer."
As Cayette listened to the woman's troubles, Officer Antonio Canchola approached slowly from the other side to prevent anyone from falling off of the building. As a precaution, he put on a harness.
Canchola and a firefighter moved in while Cayette attempted to coax the woman away from the ledge.
"She was talking to my partner [and] she was distracted," Canchola said. "Me and the firefighter, we pretty much did a bear hug on her. [We] made sure we had a good grip, and [we brought] her down with us."
The officers said the time they spent on the roof felt like an eternity. The woman was eventually brought down from the building safely.
The experience is something the officers say they will never forget. Relief was felt all around.
That same afternoon, a security scare was reported at the state Capitol in Northern California, which triggered a standoff inside Senate chambers.
Authorities say a woman climbed over the railing of the upstairs balcony and sat on the upper ledge with her feet dangling over the rails, threatening to jump. The area around the Senate chambers was cordoned off for more than two hours while crisis negotiators tried to talk her down, according to CBS Sacramento reported.
The woman was eventually brought to her safety. There were no public meetings going on in the chambers when the incident occurred.