Hero NYPD cop recounts rescue of girl shot in Times Square

NEW YORK - The NYPD officer who heroically ran through Times Square carrying a young girl who had just been shot in the leg is the mother to an infant.

"Not since I've had the baby, I didn't think I could run that fast, said NYPD Officer Alyssa Vogel. "I surprised myself."

Vogel gave birth to her child six months ago. Her response to the chaotic scene on Saturday in Times Square was part policing, part maternal instinct.

"I was really just treating her the way I would want anyone to treat my child. I just wanted to make sure she was going to be OK and to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible," Vogel told FOX 5 NY morning program 'Good Day New York."

The child was one of three innocent bystanders shot in broad daylight Saturday afternoon. A 43-year-old woman from New Jersey, a 23-year-old female from Rhode Island, and the four-year-old girl from Brooklyn are all expected to make a full recovery, but the man who put him there is still on the loose.  

"My partner and I just sprinted up the block. There was another officer tending to the aided. He yelled he needed a tourniquet. I took the tourniquet off my gun belt and helped put the tourniquet on the child. I just needed to get this little girl to the ambulance so I just picked her up and ran her to the ambulance," said Vogel.

The girl was expected to undergo surgery.

"For somebody who was in such a traumatic experience, she was very calm. She only screamed when we tightened the tourniquet because it's very painful," said Vogel.

The NYPD has released video of a person of interest. They have not released his name, but he has been identified by others as Farrakhan Muhammad, 31. His own brother reportedly provided Muhammad's name to police saying he was the intended target.  

Gun violence has surged across the Big Apple with shootings up by 166% in April compared to the same month last year.  

"It's going to take time but there are plenty of cops out here and they are all looking to help in any way possible. We are going to get through this together," said Vogel.

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