
NYPD 32nd Precinct Officers Wilmer Guerrero, Ankit Gupta and Shuaibul Amine are being hailed as heroes after saving a 16-year-old who jumped into the Harlem River in an attempt to take her own life on November 11.
In the dramatic rescue captured on body-cam footage, the officers responded to a report of a girl in distress near the shoreline, only to see her plunge into the water as they approached. She immediately began struggling, screaming that she couldn’t swim.
“As soon as she jumped in the water, she was yelling for help,” Gupta told AMNY. “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 removed his jacket, vest and gun belt and leaped into the river without hesitation. The water temperature was in the 50s and the air temperature in the 40s — a recipe for hypothermia for anyone experiencing prolonged exposure.
“It was definitely a cold plunge, freezing,” he told the New York Post. “But at that moment, nothing else mattered but just getting her out of the water. So I got over it pretty quickly.”
Guerrero was able to quickly reach the teen, who was about 20 feet away, grab her sweater and haul her toward shore while reassuring her, “We’re going to make it. We’re going to get through this.”
Amine shed his gear and made his way along a narrow concrete ledge in case he needed to jump in too, and he and Gupta helped pull the pair from the water. Paramedics soon arrived to wrap her in blankets and transport her to the hospital in stable condition.
All three of the officers have been on the job for less than four years, and it was their first water rescue.
“I’m just glad that we were all there as a group, that it was a group effort that gave her a second chance,” Gupta said to the Post.
Amine added, “It’s great when you save somebody. That’s what we signed up for in this job, right?”





