PG County Officer Pulls Woman from Potomac After Bridge Jump

A woman waving for help in the cold Potomac River, visible from the shoreline where bystanders recorded video, was the scene Cpl. John Clayton of the Prince George's County Police Marine Unit reached early Friday evening after she jumped from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Clayton navigated his patrol boat to her within minutes of her jump. He pulled alongside her, reassured her, and held her in position until a fire boat arrived and brought her aboard. She is now recovering.

"My first reaction was to get there as quickly as possible," Clayton said. "I knew it could be a matter of minutes before somebody's life is saved or somebody's is ended."

That window, the time between a person entering the Potomac and a responder reaching them, is the central challenge of river-incident readiness in Prince George's County. Friday's rescue depended on a two-stage response: the Marine Unit's patrol boat closed the distance first, while fire and rescue handled patient extraction. The shoreline video that captured the woman waving illustrates how quickly a witness who calls 911 can help confirm a victim's position in the water, and how little margin exists before that window closes.

Prince George's County Executive Aisha Braveboy traveled to the National Harbor dock to personally thank Clayton following the rescue. "If it wasn't for him doing what he was trained to do, this would have ended very differently," Braveboy said. She publicly named the incident a suicide attempt and urged anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts, or anyone worried about someone else, to call 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline.

The Woodrow Wilson Bridge carries a documented record of crisis incidents spanning decades. A 1998 episode in which a man stood on the bridge for more than five hours brought regional traffic to a standstill; a more recent case involved a man who survived a jump after making a bomb threat. Friday's rescue reinforces that water-response capacity at this specific crossing is not a contingency resource — it is a recurring operational requirement.

For anyone who witnesses a person in distress in or near the Potomac, calling 911 immediately is the most effective action available. Cold river temperatures and current make entering the water without equipment dangerous even for strong swimmers, and a Marine Unit patrol boat covers distance far faster. Prince George's County Volunteer Marine Fire Rescue, stationed at Fort Washington Marina, provides additional capacity including SCUBA-trained divers and operates under mutual aid agreements that extend to neighboring jurisdictions.

The county has not confirmed whether Clayton will receive a formal commendation. What the events of Friday evening put on record is that training and patrol presence together determined the outcome. For anyone in crisis, the number Braveboy put into the public record is available at any hour: 988.