Jacksonville officer jumps into St. Johns River to save woman

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is recognizing a sergeant who jumped in and swam to the middle of the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville Tuesday to save a woman.

JSO said officers got a call about a body floating in the St. Johns River just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Sgt. Billy Irvin jumped in and swam out to the middle of the river between the Hyatt and the The Landing just as the current was starting to pick up, JSO said.

Irvin swam to the woman and signaled that she was alive, JSO said.

A group of three construction workers saw what was going on and helped Irvin get the woman into their boat.

"This photo was taken by a fellow sergeant as Sgt. Billy Irvin got off the boat," JSO wrote on Facebook. "He is a hero to all of us and all of the people who witnessed this going on. So many citizens came up just to shake his hand thanking him for his heroic efforts."

Cox Media Group