Yihyun Jeong and Alessandra Luckey

The Republic | azcentral.com

A man traveling to California came to the rescue of a wounded state trooper who was struggling with the gunman who had shot him on an isolated stretch of Interstate 10, authorities said.

The man, who was with his wife, stopped his car when he came upon a rollover accident and saw the struggle, according to Col. Frank Milstead, Arizona Department of Public Safety director.

The trooper told the man he needed help, and the man returned to his car, got his gun and fired at the assailant when he refused to listen to orders to stop and back away, Milstead said.

The man who shot the trooper was dead, as was a woman who had been ejected from the vehicle, Milstead said.

Milstead said the trooper, 27-year veteran Trooper Edward Andersson, was in serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds to the right shoulder and chest. His wife and other troopers were with him at the hospital.

Andersson was going to be "OK after some recovery," Milstead tweeted earlier Thursday.

Roberts: This is a gun story to celebrate on Interstate 10

Milstead spoke at a Goodyear hospital where Andersson was taken, and DPS Capt. Damon Cecil provided details from the scene of the shooting, west of Tonopah and about 55 miles west of downtown Phoenix.

Milstead said Andersson was responding to a shots-fired call at milepost 81 about 4 a.m. after a caller said a car in the freeway median had fired a shot at his vehicle.

As the trooper was heading west, he came across a rollover accident at milepost 89. The car involved was registered in Arizona.

"We believe the suspect was in the rolled-over car, but it hasn't been confirmed," Cecil said.

Andersson was settling down flares in the pitch dark when a gunman "ambushed" the trooper at the scene, shooting him. The wound affected Andersson's gun hand, but he continued to physically fight the man, Cecil said.

Milstead said the civilian saw a man on top of Andersson, pounding his head in the pavement, and asked if the trooper needed help.

The civilian, who also was not identified, shot the man and then used Andersson's radio to call for help, Milstead said.

Medical helicopters flew Andersson, the gunman and the woman ejected in the rollover to the Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear.

I-10 closed about 13 hours for investigation

Officials said that nearly 100 semitrucks had to be backed out of the area as the investigation expanded.

A detour for local traffic was set up using 411th Avenue. ADOT suggested State Route 85 and Interstate 8 as alternate routes for travelers passing through the area. Officials reopened the stretch of I-10 between mileposts 81 and 94 shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Truck driver Kenny Dunn said he was driving westbound on I-10 when the traffic came to a standstill.

Dunn said an official came by his window and said, "Hang tight, it's going to be awhile."

He said he saw smoke coming from a rolled-over vehicle and a maroon unmarked DPS car in the middle of the freeway.

He said he learned that a DPS trooper might have been injured and shortly afterward saw a helicopter swoop in and take off. Another helicopter came and took off after 10 minutes, he said.

During this time, his truck partner, Lawrence Weakley, 40, was asleep, but Weakley was awakened by Dunn and told what had happened.

"It sounds tragic," he said. "Officers flew by (Dunn) to respond. Everyone responded immediately. It's overwhelming."

Their truck was the last of nearly 100 trucks that had to be backed out of the area as investigators worked to expand the scene.

Gov. Doug Ducey issued a statement Thursday morning.

“We are so relieved to hear this brave officer is safe, and will recover,” Ducey said. "This incident is another reminder of the risks that the men and women who wake up each morning and put on the badge take for our state. A courageous officer who puts his life on the line to protect our communities — and the fast-acting first-responders whose efforts were responsible for getting him to safety, doing for this officer what our cops do for our state every day.

“I urge Arizonans to join me in praying for a quick recovery for this brave officer and thanking everyone who, through their actions in real time, showed our officers exactly what Arizona means when we say: ‘You have our backs — and we will always have yours.’”

The Buckeye Police Department also posted its wishes for Andersson's speedy recovery on a department social-media account.

Includes information from Arizona Republic reporter Logan Newman.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.