MADISON, TN - A Metro police officer died Thursday morning while trying to save a woman who drove into the Cumberland River.
A diver with the fire department recovered the body of 44-year-old Officer Eric Mumaw around 8 a.m. about 70 yards from the boat ramp at Peeler Park.
Around 4:20 a.m. Thursday, police received a 911 call from a relative of the driver, 40-year-old Juli Glisson. They told police Glisson was at the boat ramp and was having suicidal thoughts.
Mumaw and Officer Nick Diamond responded to Peeler Park just minutes after receiving the call. They found the car on the edge of the water.
The two officers talked with Glisson for about 10 minutes and tried to get her out of the car.
Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said they believed Glisson was about to get out of the car when her driver's door opened, but the car suddenly rolled down the ramp into the water around 4:35 a.m.
Aaron said the two officers made "heroic efforts" to save the woman. They both went into the water, but the boat ramp ended abruptly, and they lost their balance.
Mumaw slipped and was last seen about 50 or 60 yards into the water, which is is about 15 feet deep in that area, at 4:40 a.m.