A Pennsylvania woman helped defuse a domestic situation Thursday when a man threatened to throw his baby from the overpass of a Philadelphia interstate.
Christine King, of Bensalem, said she was driving to work on Interstate 95 in northeast Philadelphia near the Cottman Avenue exit when she spotted a couple arguing near an overpass, WPVI-TV reported. King said it appeared the man, who was holding the child, was threatening to throw the baby off the overpass.
“I couldn’t just pass after I saw the baby,” King told the television station. “And after I seen him trying to throw the baby over, I couldn’t let it go.”
'Let the baby go': Good Samaritan helps rescue child from tragedy along I-95 in Philadelphiahttps://t.co/aO3W9RMlxi
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) July 28, 2022
King said stopped her car on the highway and jumped in to try and calm the situation.
“I said, ‘Give me the baby.’ And I put my hand around the baby to pull the baby from him while she was trying to pull the baby too, and I said, ‘Give me the baby,’” King told WPVI. “He said, ‘Get off my baby, I will shoot you. I will shoot you.’”
After several minutes of struggling, arguing and pleading, King said the woman managed to take the gun away from the man, WCAU-TV reported. The woman said the man was her former boyfriend, King told the television station.
“She went behind him, he was shaking so he didn’t know she was in his pocket, and that’s when she grabbed the gun out of his pocket,” King told WPVI. “That’s when she put it in her pocket.”
When police officers arrived at the standoff, the man still did not want to let go of the child, WCAU reported. Officers were able to safely take the baby from the man, who was later detained, according to the television station.
"Then I saw that the man grabbed the baby and tried to throw her over the bridge," King said. "That's when I hit the brakes on my car and went out to stop him:" https://t.co/auOn1fdoeF
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) July 28, 2022
Officials with the Pennsylvania State Police have not yet released information about the incident, WCAU reported. Authorities said an investigation is ongoing.
The child was checked by medical personnel at the scene.
King said she had no regrets about jumping into a volatile situation.
“I’d do it again,” she told WPVI. “I didn’t see no gun, but when she took the gun from him, that’s when I seen the gun.
“He was trying to throw the baby over.”
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