Nashville Police officer dies trying to save suicidal woman from river

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The body of a Metro Nashville Police officer has been recovered from the Cumberland River after he went missing while trying to save a woman.

The incident was reported after 4 a.m. Thursday on Neelys Bend Road in Madison.

Officials with Metro Nashville Police said they received word about a 40-year-old woman contemplating suicide at the end of a boat ramp at Peeler Park. Two officers made contact with her and tried to talk her out of the car.

At some point, the car was put in gear and rolled backwards down the ramp. In an effort to save her, the two officers tried to get her out of the car but slipped as the car became submerged.

Because it was dark, they couldn't see where the boat ramp ended.

One officer tried to save the other but was unsuccessful. That officer was rescued and taken to an area hospital for treatment.

The missing officer was last seen around 4:40 a.m., some 50-60 yards from the boat ramp. The water is said to be about 15-feet deep in the area and is about 49-degrees.

About an hour after the incident, the woman was found along the river bank and taken to an area hospital.

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