2 cop cars showed up to help the wounded cop. the suspects returned and opened fire.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety officer was shot in central Phoenix early Wednesday morning.
The officer was taken to a hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the face and was preparing to go into surgery, according to a DPS spokesman.
Police would not release any information about the shooters, who were still on the loose.
Police are looking for five people who could be in a 2008 blue Mercury Sable with Kansas license plate 887-GAM. A national group that operates an emergency notification system indicated the shooters' car could have the rear window shot out.
The shooting took place before 2 a.m. when the DPS officer tried to conduct a traffic stop on a car with excessively tinted windows at a motel near Interstate 17 and McDowell Road, said Officer James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesman.
About 10 minutes after the officer made the stop, and after his search of the vehicle, he was shot in the face, Holmes said.
The officer was able to report on his radio that he had been shot, Holmes said.
Two other DPS officers who were already en route to the scene fired at the blue Mercury, likely striking the car and potentially injuring the occupants, Holmes said. Police asked for hospitals to be on alert for gunshot victims, he said.
The injured officer was taken into surgery early Wednesday but was also able to communicate with people at the hospital, Holmes said.
A DPS spokesman said the officer, a six-year veteran, was expected to remain in surgery for several hours.
Holmes did not reveal any details about the shooters and others who could have been involved in the attack, but he said residents in the area should call 911 immediately if they see or hear any suspicious activity.
"Anyone that's willing to take a shot at a police officer is going to be a dangerous person," Holmes said. "We are very concerned, especially in the immediate area."
More than a dozen DPS and Phoenix police units were at the scene Wednesday morning. The investigation closed I-17 at the McDowell Road exit and blocked traffic at the Thomas Road entrance to I-17 in addition to restricting traffic on the frontage road that links the two streets, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
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