U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Niagara Falls Station, the U.S. Coast Guard, Lewiston Police, Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies and local firefighters worked together to rescue a 54-year-old woman on the lower Niagara River early Sunday.
Border Patrol said about 4:30 a.m., agents responded to the Niagara River near the Lewiston Landing for reports of a woman on a homemade raft in the freezing water. She was only 50 yards from the shore and paddled away from authorities when they attempted to talk with her.
Authorities then attempted a water rescue, but Border Patrol says the woman brandished two knives and threatened to kill anyone who approached her. She was finally rescued after a fishing net pole was used to knock the weapons from her hands.
She was determined to be a U.S. citizen and was ambulanced to Mt. St. Mary’s Hospital for signs of hypothermia.
“The heroic actions of agents and officers to save this woman’s life is amazing,” said Patrol Agent in Charge Brady Waikel at Niagara Falls. “They risked their lives to help a distraught woman in very dangerous conditions, but this is what law enforcement does every day.”
