A couple of hours after asking for help on social media to find what they consider "a local hero," the Cheektowaga Police Department, New York, announced that it has found the man who broke into a school on Saturday to save a group of people who were trapped in their vehicles during the extreme weather that hit the northeast of the country.
"We identified the amazing Jay with the help of his friends and family
," said the post, which shared a photo of the man, who authorities say left a note apologizing for breaking a window and trespassing at Pine Hill School. .
According to the story, Jay Withey, 27, got trapped in the snow Friday night and broke into the building Saturday so he and 23 other people could get out of the cold, get food and use the bathroom.
Some were older adults.
This is one of the photos Cheektowaga police shared.
Withey told NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo, that once he entered the school he wanted to rescue as many people as possible.
"My mission was to keep walking and taking all the people I could," he
said.
“I kept walking and walking until I cried and couldn't go on anymore.
I was exhausted."
"He is a selfless person and what he did was not seeking recognition," said his cousin, Vincent Consiglio, once the news was made public.
“That's how he is.
He always helping people”.
[National Guard searches house to house for victims of winter storm in Buffalo]
The handwritten note shared by police was signed "Merry Christmas, Jay" and, according to the post, was found when officers arrived at the scene after receiving reports of a broken window.
Reviewing the surveillance videos, they saw that a group of people remained there during the storm without causing any damage.
"We witnessed how people took care of others.
There was a freezer full of food, but no one touched it. They only ate what was necessary to stay alive," explained the police, who said that everything that people used, such as tables and blackboards smart, it was returned to its site.
"You would never have known that someone was there," they said.
National Guard searches house-to-house for victims of winter storm in Buffalo
Dec 29, 202200:25
"This incredible group of people took care of each other and the building in which they took refuge," they highlighted.
In their post they shared footage from security cameras showing Jay and the note he left behind.
Police said they wanted to find him to acknowledge his "heroic" actions and that no charges would be filed against him for entering the building.
After the publication, several users wrote that they knew him or knew of the people he had saved.
In a more recent photo they announced that they had found him and were able to thank him for what he did.
In the image, Withey is seen with some of the people he saved, as well as two pets he rescued.
[A mother who died in the arms of her son and a man who was going to be a father: the storm in Buffalo leaves more victims]
"Jay said they are now family and are planning to spend a summer together," police said.
Jay with the people he saved from the storm. Cheektowaga Police Department, New York.
So far, more than 70 deaths have been reported from accidents or incidents linked to the extreme weather that engulfed the country during the festivities. One of the states most affected by the low temperatures was New York, where on Thursday the authorities were still looking for survivors inside vehicles and houses buried in snow
Some people died inside their cars, others in their unheated homes and some were found on the street after more than 20 inches of snow fell in some parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
