Dreamer shoots Trooper in Arizona and meets his fate..

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An Arizona state trooper who was beaten and shot while responding to a traffic collision on Interstate 10 was attacked by a Mexican man who was responsible for the one-vehicle rollover, authorities said.

Leonard Pennelas-Escobar opened fire on Trooper Edward Andersson early Thursday after the officer had stopped on the interstate and set up flares in a bid to get motorists to slow down. Pennelas-Escobar said something unrecognizable in Spanish before shooting the trooper, and then he started landing blows with his fists and beating the trooper's head on the ground, Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead said Monday.

A passing motorist who witnessed the attack retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and fired two shots at Pennelas-Escobar after he refused an order to stop attacking Andersson. With Pennelas-Escobar incapacitated, the motorist tended to the wounded trooper but was later drawn back into the dispute when Pennelas-Escobar got up and resumed his assault on Andersson. The motorist then fired a fatal shot at Pennelas-Escobar.

"He definitely kept him (Andersson) from having much more serious neurological injuries from this beating," Milstead said.

Milstead called a news conference Monday to offer more detail on the chaotic scene, but he was unable to provide an explanation on why Pennelas-Escobar attacked the officer.

The 37-year-old Pennelas-Escobar was in the country illegally, a drug user and was believed to have once worked as a Mexican police officer, Milstead said. Still, Pennelas-Escobar had no known criminal history.

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