While assisting firefighters at the scene of a residential fire Sunday, Atlanta police officers entered the two-story home to detain a woman threatening suicide. Despite the heavy smoke and the woman’s refusing to come out, the officers safely removed her from the home.
The Atlanta Police Department details the rescue in a social media post that praises Officers Thigpen, Ross, Jones, and Ware for “their bravery, prompt action and teamwork that saved this woman’s life.”
Firefighters responded to the home, after a report of a fire, and discovered a 25-year-old woman inside the burning building and refusing to come out. The woman, armed with a knife, came to the window, stood on the ledge, and threatened suicide as firefighters continued to try to extinguish the fire from outside, police say.
“When AFRD had reduced the danger from the fire enough to allow officers inside to deal with the distraught and armed woman, four officers from Zone 1 entered the home. Although the building was still filled with smoke, the officers were able to locate the woman in an upstairs room,” the department statement says.
Once located, police say the woman repeatedly pled for the officers to kill her. Officers were able to restrain her and carry her to safety, outside the home. Once outside, medical personnel began treating the woman and she was eventually taken to the hospital for an evaluation.
