An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was killed and another was hurt in a shooting in the on Wednesday evening.
Colonel Frank Milstead announced the news at a press conference early Thursday morning at the Abrazo West Campus hospital in Goodyear.
Milstead said around 10 p.m. Wednesday dispatchers received several calls of a vehicle behaving erratically on Interstate 10 eastbound near Avondale Boulevard.
Objects were reportedly being thrown from the vehicle at other cars.
Milstead said citizens were able to get the suspect out of the road.
As DPS troopers arrived at the scene, they struggled with the suspect for a number of minutes.
During the struggle, Milstead said the suspect got control of a trooper's gun and fired at least two shots from the weapon.
One of the shots hit a trooper in the shoulder, wounding him. Another shot hit a second trooper, killing him.
DPS said a third trooper was hurt during a fight with the suspect.
"I'm incredibly proud of the men and women who show up to do this job every day. They're brave enough to come out and face the unknown," Col. Milstead said Thursday morning.
Milstead spoke about the trooper who was killed, identified as Trooper Tyler Edenhofer, saying he graduated from the DPS Academy in May and was an officer in training.
"The DPS family is in mourning," Milstead said. "Our thoughts are prayers are with his family. Lives have been shattered and ruined and we're all in a state of shock this morning."
Friends and family of Edenhofer say he was a Navy veteran and was slated to be done with DPS training next week.
The second trooper who was shot in the shoulder has been identified as Trooper Dalin Dorris. The trooper hurt in the altercation with the suspect is Trooper Sean Rodecap.
"The DPS family is in mourning... and (we're) all in a little bit of a state of shock this morning," Milstead said.
Interstate 10 eastbound was closed between Litchfield Road and Avondale Boulevard for several hours and into the morning commute. Traffic started moving again around 6:30 a.m.
BREAKING: One @Arizona_DPS trooper in training has been killed; another injured in shooting with a suspect near I-10 & Dysart. This is near where it happened. @JamieABC15 is live at the hospital where both officers were taken. #abc15 #teamcoverage pic.twitter.com/IlHi0UR5KU
— Megan Thompson (@MeganABC15) July 26, 2018
This incident marks the 55th shooting involving law enforcement in the Valley in 2018 and the second on a Valley freeway.
