On January 12, an armed citizen stopped and killed a man who was beating an Arizona State Trooper on the side of I-10.

The incident occurred early Thursday morning on about “50 miles west of downtown Phoenix.”

According to KTAR News, the trooper had stopped to investigate a rollover accident at about 4:30 a.m., when someone opened fire, shooting him in the shoulder. The alleged shooter then began to beat the officer. An armed citizen and his family were driving by when they spotted the officer under duress.

The citizen stopped the car, ran toward the officer and asked if he needed assistance. When the officer said “yes,” the citizen ran back to his car, grabbed his gun, then returned and “demanded the attacker stop.” The attacker refused to stop, so the citizen shot him multiple times, killing him.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Frank Milstead said, “I don’t know that my trooper would be alive without [the armed citizen’s] assistance.”

The name of the armed citizen was not released, but Milstead added, “I would just say thank you.”

Also on January 12, the New York Times editorial board wrote against expanding the opportunities for armed citizens to be armed for self-defense. The paper claimed, “The grim truth is that concealed-carry permit holders are rarely involved in stopping crime.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.