St. Paul PD

St. Paul police chief Todd Axtell was in the thick of the action on Tuesday morning, as he helped his fellow officers pull a woman to safety on a downtown bridge.

Axtell was on his way to headquarters when he heard a report of a woman sitting on the ledge of the Robert Street Bridge.

The video above, provided by St. Paul PD, shows Officer Frank Judge talking to the woman while fellow Officer Gao Vang watches from a distance.

Axtell then turns up, surveying the situation before nodding to Officer Judge, at which point they pulled her from the ledge.

"She was taken to the hospital to get the help she needs," St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders said.

Axtell told the Pioneer Press he'd just left breakfast when he heard the call, adding that it "breaks your heart" to see people struggling with depression but it's "rewarding" to know that his officers were there to help.

Linders said that its officers "often encounter these types of situations" and encourages anyone who needs help to call the National Suicide Prevention

You can also visit its website, Save.org.