We reported last week how an armed citizen helped save the life of Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Edward Andersson. The concealed-carry permit holder was passing by on the highway when he witnessed the officer being assaulted by Leonard Pennelas-Escobar.
On Monday, Col. Frank Milstead, Arizona’s Department of Public Safety director, held a news conference about what happened that day. He declined to identify the good Samaritan—whom he called a “very humble, spiritual guy”— but said that the bystander “believes that God put him there that morning so he could save Trooper Andersson’s life.”
According to Milstead, the armed citizen first circled around Andersson and Pennelas-Escobar to find the clearest line of sight before firing. His first two shots temporarily incapacitated the attacker, and a third shot killed him.
“He knows he did the right thing.” Milstead said. “He is trying to reconcile that in his mind, which is difficult to take a life even when you know it’s the right thing to do.”
