WGNO

Bossier City officers, good Samaritan to be honored for saving woman on bridge

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Bossier City police officers and a good Samaritan are being honored by the city council for their efforts after saving a woman from jumping off a bridge earlier this month.

According to city officials, the city council will be recognizing Corporal Matthew Bragg, Officer Brandon Bailey, and Mr. Rawlis Leslie during a regular meeting for the life-saving efforts they made on Tuesday, June 1.


The city council meeting is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15 in the Bossier City Council chambers.

On June 1, officers responded to a suspicious person complaint on the Shreveport-Barksdale Bridge that led to a remarkable chain of events.

Police say when Cpl. Mathew Bragg arrived on the scene, he found an upset woman stepping onto the ledge of the bridge over the Red River.

In the video above, the woman appears to position herself to jump, the Cpl. Bragg moves in, holding on to her to prevent her from falling into the swift-moving water.

After about 40 seconds, officer Bailey arrived on the scene to help, but the two of them were unable to pull the woman from the ledge.

While Bragg and Bailey waited for additional officers to show up, Leslie saw the officers needed help and pulled over to assist them.

The woman had no physical injuries, and she was taken to Willis-Knighton Bossier for evaluation.