Times Square Shooting: Hero Officer Alyssa Vogel Speaks About Rescuing 4-Year-Old Gunshot Victim
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Several stories of bravery are coming out after this past weekend's Times Square shooting.
An NYPD officer is being called a hero after video, viewed by millions, showed her rushing a child who was shot to safety.
CBS2's Natalie Duddridge spoke to her Monday morning in Times Square.
The officer, herself, is a new mother. She has a 6-month-old son, and those motherly instincts and police training just kicked in. She said all she wanted to do in that moment was make sure the little girl was OK, Duddridge reported.
"I was just looking at her, saying if this was my kid, I would be running her myself to the hospital, or an ambulance," Officer Alyssa Vogel said.
So that's exactly what she did, moments after the 4-year-old girl was one of three innocent bystanders wounded in Times Square. Video shows Vogel running with the child in her arms.
"I just picked her up, looked for the ambulance. My partner had said there was one down the block, so I just ran," Vogel said.
Vogel, who works in the Midtown North precinct, was nearby when the shots rang out Saturday at around 5 p.m., hitting the youngster, who was going to a toy store with her mom, dad and aunt.
Another officer, who was already on the scene, called out to Vogel that he needed a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
"I had one on my gun belt, so I pulled it out, started putting it on her, tightening it," Vogel said. "Obviously she's a child, We didn't know if it was going to be tight enough to work."
It did, and Officer Vogel said while the girl's parents were in shock, she didn't make a sound.
"She was amazing. I cannot believe that a little girl her age who had just been shot was so calm," Vogel said. "When I was with the mother, I was trying to calm her down, because, obviously, she was in a state. It was starting to settle in what was happening. Just trying to get her to not have a panic attack, let her know it's OK, your daughter's OK."
Now, Vogel is being hailed a hero, but she said it was a team effort.
"It's kind of funny because, you know, to me and and every other cop on scene, we're just doing our job," Vogel said.
Vogel said she learned to do her job from her father, brother and husband, who are all police officers. She was a gym teacher in Brooklyn before joining the NYPD four and a half years ago. And six months ago became a mother to a baby boy. She said all of her training combined with motherly instincts kicked in.
"My father is extremely proud of the police officer I've become. I definitely think that being a teacher helped me become a better cop," Vogel said.
Vogel said she became a teacher and then a police officer because she wants to help people, and added she will always look out for the little girl and her family.
Authorities said the 4-year-old has been released from the hospital, and is recovering at home.