Officers Recognized For Saving "Distraught" Woman

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The Canton Police Department last week recognized four of its offices and one deputy with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office with life-saving awards.

The public servants were commended for their efforts in saving a “distraught” woman from jumping from an overpass on Interstate 575, the agency said last week. The five individuals were recognized during Thursday’s Canton City Council meeting. 

Just after 2:30 a.m. Friday, July 10, Cherokee E-911 dispatchers received a call from the woman, who was threatening to jump from a bridge.

Dispatchers alerted officers about the emergency call, and patrol units in the area began searching for the woman on bridges around the interstate in the Canton area.

Dispatchers were able to detect the location where the cell phone call originated, which showed it to be in Canton’s city limits.

A corporal with the Canton Police Department was patrolling the area of the northbound exit ramp to Exit 16B just before 3 a.m. when he “observed the suicidal female,” police said.

The woman was slumped over the edge of the bridge that runs over the Canton bypass. With the help of deputies from the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, officers were able to shut down the interstate in both directions as an officer attempted to talk with the woman using his patrol vehicle’s PA system.

This negotiation effort gave the corporal and a Cherokee Sheriff’s Office deputy enough time to scale the bridge embankment and make their way behind the woman without being detected. The officers were able to grab the woman from the ledge and prevent her from jumping.

Other officers and deputies arrived to assist, and the woman was subsequently taken into custody and transported to an area hospital without further incident.

The life-saving award was given to Corporal James McPherson, officers Christian Cruz, Mary Turner, Brantley Worley and Cherokee Sheriff’s Office K-9 Deputy Christopher Bryant.

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From left to right, Assistant Chief Steve Merrifield, K-9 Deputy Christopher Bryant, James McPherson, Mary Turner, Christian Cruz, Chief Mark Mitchell and Brantley Worley. Credit: Stan Wilson