MOUNT VERNON, Ill. — A man from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was killed and an Illinois state trooper was injured after an exchange of gunfire early Tuesday morning on Interstate 64 in Jefferson County.
According to Illinois State Police, the man was identified as 23-year-old Brandon L. Griffin.
Troop 10 units responded at about 3 a.m. Tuesday to a "motorists assist" call on eastbound I-64 at Milepost 72, near Mount Vernon. Griffin and a female passenger were inside the car.
While troopers were providing assistance, an unspecified altercation between the troopers and Griffin started. During the altercation, troopers said Griffin displayed a firearm, which led to an exchange of gunfire between Griffin and responding troopers.
During the exchange, ISP said the suspect was killed and a trooper was injured. The trooper, described as a 16-year veteran of ISP, was taken to a regional hospital for treatment of serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The female passenger and a second trooper were not injured in the gunfire.
The injured trooper was not identified.
"That man's a hero," said Daniel Cohen. "All of those men that responded are heroes."
The ISP Division of Internal Investigation is leading the investigation, which remained ongoing Tuesday. All lanes of eastbound I-64 were closed following the incident but reopened at about 6:25 a.m.
Lanes were closed again at about 7:50 and reopened just before 9 a.m.
"God bless anybody for being out there in law enforcement," said Jan Winkler. "It's a very scary time. We keep getting alerts on our phones that there's a shooting elsewhere. It's getting closer and closer in smaller and smaller towns. Something needs to be done, but I don't know what."
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