A 41-year-old Mattapan woman who jumped off the Longfellow Bridge this weekend and led police to believe three children were also in the chilly Charles River has not been charged with a crime, but state police said they are investigating the incident.
Police responded to the bridge about 11:15 p.m. Friday after a report that a screaming woman had thrown herself into the river. The woman swam to shore on the Boston side of the river, where she told police her three children were in the water, prompting a massive response of firefighters, cops, dive teams, a boat and emergency medical technicians.
Boston sent 30 firefighters, and they were preparing to launch a dive team, said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald, who was at the dark and dramatic scene.
"When she came out of the water, she made statements to police and based on her statements we were led to believe there were children in the water. . . . We initiated a search for people in the water," MacDonald said.
A Cambridge rescue boat scanned the water with a spotlight, while dozens of first responders looked for the children. A pair of women's shoes and a yellow child's chair and stuffed ottoman could be seen near the water's edge by the bridge.
MacDonald said rescue teams immediately assessed the situation.
"When you get there you start basically thinking, 'OK, if there were kids in the water, where did they go? How's the current flowing?' You think about those things. You start thinking where would they be, how cold is the water."
The search was called off when police verified the woman's children were safe.
"It came back the children were accounted for and we all left," he said.
The woman was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to state police.
A state police spokesman said the woman has not been charged in connection with the incident but an investigation is continuing.
