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Police Officers Save Life Of Newborn Found Outside San Francisco Shelter

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Two police officers are being called heroes for saving the life of a newborn baby found unresponsive in San Francisco's Bayview District early this morning, police said.

The officers, who work out of the department's Bayview Station, responded around 2 a.m. to a request for a welfare check at Third Street and McKinnon Avenue. The caller said there was a woman bleeding there, police said.

As the officers were arriving, they were flagged down by a man holding a newborn boy. Because the baby was unresponsive, the officers requested an ambulance and one officer, a former paramedic, began performing CPR, police said.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:

It's still not clear where the baby boy was delivered but around 2:00 a.m., his mother banged on the gate of Providence Shelter at 3rd and McKinnon in the Bayview District looking for help.

Shelter worker Ace Dorsey answered the door.

"She was in front. The gate wasn't open," he said. "She said let me in. She was covered in blood. She said I had a baby."

Dorsey said she had something in her hands but he never saw what it was or heard crying. He told her to wait so he could call 911.

As he left, she handed the baby to another person although it's still unclear who that was, someone she knew or a stranger.

That person flagged down a patrol car with two officers inside – one drove to SF General Hospital while the other performed CPR on the newborn.

Meanwhile, the woman who was reportedly bleeding had left the area prior to the officers' arrival but was found by police nearby and was determined to be the baby's mother, police spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy said.

Both the mother and baby remain at San Francisco General Hospital Wednesday morning and were expected to survive, Shyy said.

The case remained under investigation. Anyone with information was asked to call police Sgt. John Keane of the Police Department's special  victims unit at (415) 553-9363.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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