Trooper says man who shot, killed his attacker saved his life

Trooper says man who shot, killed his attacker saved his life

PHOENIX – An Arizona officer who was shot and beaten a year ago by a Mexican man he was trying to help after a car crash said a passing driver saved his life by killing the man, according to newly released police reports.

State Trooper Edward Andersson said he doesn’t know what led to the attack. The officer had seen Leonardo Penuelas-Escobar cradling his injured girlfriend, then set up flares to try to get drivers to slow down on a major highway. Moments later, Andersson spotted Penuelas-Escobar with a gun in his hand.

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The reports say Penuelas-Escobar said something in Spanish before shooting the officer in the shoulder and beating him in the head with a handgun, which had been stolen months earlier from a home.

An armed driver saw the beating, got out of his vehicle and fatally shot Penuelas-Escobar when he refused a command to stop attacking the officer.

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