NYPD officers from Mount Vernon and Monroe are being hailed as heroes because of their quick thinking when a desperate mother needed their help.

The officers, from the 47th Precinct in the Bronx, were on their first call of a Sunday night shift around 11 p.m. on Aug. 18 when they got a 911 call about shots being fired.
While looking for leads, they thought they found one near East 219th Street and Bronx Boulevard.

“A vehicle sped past our car and stopped short. We actually thought it was somebody shot in the vehicle at that point,” says officer Lauren Southwell.

Officer Issaka Abubakar say that’s when a woman came rushing out, saying her baby was choking.
Without hesitation, the officers answered that call to action. Southwell says she phoned for an ambulance and comforted that mother while Abubakar put his training to the test.

“I just turned the baby over, gave it you know gently, multiple pats on the back. Flipped it over, checked the pulse, back again, and gentle pat, and at that point the baby started crying,” says Abubakar.  

“At that point, we knew the baby was okay,” says Southwell.
After many thanks from the mother, EMTs arrived on the scene and the 9-month-old was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Protocol requires officers to follow up with the family and two days later, they had a happy reunion with the mother and the baby girl.

“The baby was happy and healthy. In this case, I was happy that me and my partner were there and able to coordinate both in thought and in action, to save that baby,” say the partners.