“The Cop Is Alive Today Because Of The 2nd Amendment.”
A Phoenix, Arizona trooper who had been shot and was being beaten by a man with a pistol was saved by an armed motorist who shot and killed his attacker, authorities said.
The man who came upon the scene warned the attacker to stop striking the officer, but the assailant continued the assault, said Capt. Damon Cecil, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The motorist then got a gun from his car and shot the assailant, who died at the scene.
According to Fox8News:
Col. Frank Milstead, director of the Public Safety Department, said he would like to thank the man who stepped in. “I don’t know that my trooper would be alive today without his assistance,” he said, according to KNXV-TV in Phoenix. The trooper was identified as Ed Andersson, a 27-year veteran. He was shot in the chest and shoulder and is in serious and stable condition, Cecil said.
Public safety spokesman Bart Graves said the incident began with the trooper responding to report of shots fired from the median of an unlit, rural section of Interstate 10 near Tonopah. Andersson came across a vehicle that had rolled over and got out to investigate. While Andersson was setting flares, the suspect shot him.
Milstead said at some point the suspect started beating Andersson, who was unable to use his right arm to defend himself. That’s when the motorist pulled up and opened fire killing the assailant.
“It’s fairly rare” that citizens who come to the aid of law enforcement officers use deadly force, Cecil said.
Another motorist who stopped used the trooper’s portable radio to call in the shooting. The conversation between that driver and the dispatcher was very businesslike, Cecil said.
“Hello. Officer down, officer down outside Tonopah. Come in, please,” the man says, according to audio archived on Broadcastify, which streams radio communications between emergency responders. “He’s in real bad shape. Please send air support, helicopter, please.”
The incident occurred just after 4 a.m. near mile marker 89, about 50 miles west of Phoenix.
VIDEO: Motorist With Gun Kills Man Beating Wounded Trooper
sources: CNN WIRE, Fox8News, Youtube