'Let the baby go': Woman helps save baby after man threatens to throw child off highway

"I said, 'Give me the baby.' And I put my hand around the baby to pull the baby from him," said Christine King.

ByTrish Hartman WPVI logo
Friday, July 29, 2022
'Give me the baby': Good Samaritan saves child from tragedy along I-95
Christine King said she was driving near the Cottman Avenue exit when she spotted a man threatening to throw a child off the overpass.

PHILADELPHIA -- A good Samaritan helped save a baby from tragedy along I-95 in northeast Philadelphia on Thursday morning.

Christine King said she was driving near an exit when she spotted a man threatening to throw a child off the overpass.

"I couldn't just pass after I saw the baby. And after I seen him trying to throw the baby over, I couldn't let it go," King said.

King said without much thought, she jumped in to try to help the couple.

"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.' He said, 'Get off my baby, I will shoot you. I will shoot you,'" King said.

King said the woman later told her it was her ex-boyfriend who was threatening her and the child.

She said the child's mother had the presence of mind to take the man's gun out of his pocket while he was distracted.

"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. That's when she put it in her pocket," King said.

King said she and the woman tried to talk him down, telling him to hand the baby over.

She said the man still had the baby when police arrived, and officers were able to safely take the baby from the man.

King said there was a struggle to take the man into custody.

Police then moved the investigation off the highway and to a nearby parking lot.

The child was checked out in an ambulance.

Authorities have not yet provided details on the incident. The investigation is ongoing.