A Massachusetts state trooper and an 18-year-old man were wounded and hospitalized in an altercation on an interstate highway in Amesbury Thursday, police said.
The attacker parked his vehicle approached the trooper's cruiser, parked in front of a road work crew on the side of I-495 southbound, and produced a knife, which he used to stab the trooper, according to Col. Christopher Mason, the head of the Massachusetts State Police.
The trooper received "several cut or stab wounds" on his left arm and was forced to fire his gun, Mason said. The trooper than made a "chilling radio transmission" requesting assistance.
Mason identified the suspect as Nathan Aguilar, an 18-year-old from Melrose. Aguilar was eventually flown to Beth Israel hospital in Boston, where he remains, Mason said.
State police have said Aguilar was shot several times.
The trooper has been released from the hospital, Mason said about three hours after the shooting. The trooper is a 34-year-old military veteran who was on the force for about three-and-a-half years, but has not been identified.
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"We're no stranger to attacks by people with edge weapons and we understand and appreciate how dangerous they can be, which gives us a great appreciation of how bad this could have gone today," Mason said.
State police investigators are still trying to determine the suspect's motive in approaching and attacking the officer.
Amesbury police had confirmed they were assisting state police in a police-involved shooting in the area of I-495.
The two right lanes of 495 south just before Exit 54 were closed for the investigation after the shooting, state police said.
