A Detroit firefighter's body was found a day after he saved 3 girls from drowning in a local river, report says
- A missing high-ranking firefighter's body was found on Saturday in the Detroit River after he assisted in saving three girls from drowning, the Detroit News reported.
- The Detroit Fire Department sergeant, Sivad Johnson, and his daughter were walking by the river on Friday when they heard the girls screaming. Johnson dived into the water to rescue the girls, according to the newspaper.
- After the girls were reunited with their family, Johnson's daughter realized her father had disappeared and called local authorities to the scene.
- His body was found Saturday in the Detroit River by local police and dive teams.
A Detroit firefighter's body was found in the Detroit River one day after he dived in to rescue girls from drowning, The Detroit News reported.
Sivad Johnson, a Detroit Fire Department sergeant, was found dead on Saturday at approximately 1 p.m. in the Detroit River by local police and dive teams, the news outlet reported.
According to Detroit News, Johnson dived into the water when he heard the girls screaming while on a walk with his 10-year-old daughter.
"He's a firefighter, he saw the girls in distress and jumped in," Deputy Commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department, Dave Fornell told the outlet. "He's done that his entire career."
Fornell also told the newspaper that a boat and civilian helped with the rescue of the three girls.
When Johnson's daughter realized her father disappeared after the young girls were reunited with their parents, police said she called authorities, who believe that Johnson may have been "dragged underwater by the rip-current."
The courageous firefighter was off-duty at the time of the rescue, but Fornell told Detroit News that it would be "labeled as a line-of-duty death with the department."
According to NBC News, Johnson was a second-generation firefighter with the Detroit Fire Department.