The fact that the homeless shelter inside the Providence Baptist Church was open at 2 a.m. may have saved a baby's life. It all started when a staff member heard the front door buzzer.
"They went to the door and there was a lady at the door covered in blood and she said she wanted to come in, but she didn't have anything with her at that time, so he went to let his supervisor know and called 911," said G.L. Hodge, Providence Baptist Church.
When he came back she was gone, but she returned with a newborn in her arms.
"She was a little hysterical. She was saying she wanted to come in at first and then when she came back with the baby she did not want to come back in," said Hodge.
Witnesses said the woman then handed off the baby to a man on the street and she took off. Police arrived and were flagged down by a man holding a newborn baby. The baby was unresponsive, so the officers requested an ambulance and one officer, a former paramedic, began performing CPR. The officers then decided to transport the child to the hospital themselves rather than wait for the ambulance. Some police officers are calling the two cops heroes. But police also give credit to the shelter.
"The officers said that if we hadn't been here today and made those calls, (the newborn and mother) might not be alive right now," Hodge.
The baby was unresponsive when he was found. Police said the mother and baby are both in non-life threatening condition.
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call police Sgt. John Keane of the Police Department's special victims unit at (415) 553-9363.
