Chicago police officer helps deliver baby while responding to a shooting

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago police officer is being lauded for going above and beyond the call of duty when she helped deliver a baby to a young couple while at the scene of a shooting.

Field training officer Josie Christopher declined the label of "hero" for helping a young couple in distress.

"Any officer would have done what I did," she said. "She was very scared. I was very scared. I had never done anything like this before. It was just the right place at the right time."

The 17th District officer and two of her fellow cops assigned to the Albany Park police station were honored for their exceptional actions Friday.

It all began around 7:40 a.m. Thursday, after they received a 911 call about a person shot. Officers responded to the 3400 block of North Kilbourn Avenue where they found a man bleeding heavily from his leg.

Without hesitation, Officer Antonio Pelayo called for paramedics then used his training to apply a tourniquet to the victim's thigh, saving his life.

But just when the officers thought their job was done, the unexpected happened. Christopher was walking back to her squad car when she was waved down by a neighborhood resident who led her to a woman in labor.

"The baby was mostly out when I got there so I just helped her put the baby on the chest," she said.

The family said they were on the way to the hospital when the mom told her husband to pull over.

"The scariest thing was the baby wasn't crying," Christopher said. "When the baby cried, it was just amazing."

The 21-year veteran officer, and mother herself of an adult son, helped deliver a healthy baby girl.

Chicago police said mom and baby were taken to a nearby hospital where they and dad are doing just fine. Authorities added the shooting victim is expected to make a full recovery.