Bodycam footage shows Mesa officer saving baby

A police officer in Mesa, Arizona, was "in the right place at the right time" to help save a baby who had stopped breathing on the platform of a light rail, authorities said Wednesday.

Officer Shaquille Perez was dealing with a sleeping, non-compliant passenger on the light rail on July 23 when a screaming mother caught his attention, the Mesa Police Department said.

"I heard screaming, so I walk over, and when I peep out this way from the other side where the train’s at, mom comes running up to me screaming for help," Perez said.

Perez’s body-worn camera footage shows him take the unresponsive baby, turn him over, and begin patting the child’s back.

As Perez worked on the child, he said that a man who told him he was a retired paramedic offered to help.

"He took the baby from my arms, and we put him in the backseat of the squad car under some A/C, and the baby was breathing," Perez said.

The child can be heard on video giving a loud cry while in the arms of the retired paramedic, who then began to soothe the baby.

The Mesa Police Department wrote in a caption for the bodycam video that Perez was "in the right place at the right time"

"It’s an amazing feeling to know I was able to intervene and help potentially save that baby’s life," Perez said.

Paramedics arrived and evaluated the child. Police said the baby is now safe.