Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Fatally Shot by Stranded Motorist on Interstate

A stranded motorist fatally shot a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. The former was then killed by another officer. Fox News reported that the shooting that killed Trooper Joseph Bullock, 42, happened around 10:15 a.m. near Palm City, located 45 minutes north of West Palm Beach.

According to Col. Gene Spaulding, the highway patrol commander, the 19-year veteran had been with the suspect for several minutes alongside Interstate 95 before the shooting.

“People don't realize when you approach a car, even a disabled vehicle or a car on a traffic stop, you are worried about not only what is inside that car and what danger is waiting for you, you are also worried about the 80,000-pound tractor-trailers that are barreling down the highway behind you” said Spaulding.

An article by News4Jax reported that the shooter is Franklin Reed III. Reed’s family expressed condolences to the survivors of Trooper Joseph Bullock. However, they said Reed was not the type of person who would have randomly shot someone.

“They say Reed, 30, had a concealed weapons permit, a college degree, no criminal record and no history of mental illness. They want to see dash cam video to understand what led up to Wednesday's shootout on Interstate 95 as cars whizzed past” said the news article.

“He’s being portrayed as this monster, you know who's just on the rage to kill people, to kill officers,” Kamara Jenkins, Reed’s aunt, told WPEC-TV on Thursday. “No. That’s not our Franklin.”