Harrowing Footage Shows Moment Transit Cop Pulls Man Who 'Want[ed] to Die' From Train Tracks

SECAUCUS, N.J. (TheBlaze/AP) -- A New Jersey Transit police officer is being hailed as a hero for pulling a man from train tracks in northern New Jersey last week.

Image source: WNBC-TV

Authorities say Officer Victor Ortiz says he followed the man he saw exiting a train at Secaucus Junction as the man jumped onto the tracks. Ortiz says the man kneeled down onto the tracks as a train was about a half-mile away.

He grabbed the man who kept saying "I just want to die," and Ortiz eventually was able to pull him off the tracks just as the train was coming into the station.

NJ Transit officials say they couldn't be more proud of Ortiz and hope it reminds people what police officers do every day.

"Officer Ortiz’s selfless and heroic actions demonstrated a level of bravery and a true sense of compassion and purpose that often goes unrecognized but is ever present in our law enforcement community," New Jersey Transit said, according to WNBC-TV.

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