Police released video Thursday of a highway shootout that started when a man pulled a gun during a routine traffic stop -- while his kids waited in the car.
Oregon State Trooper Matthew Zistel sustained a bullet wound in his side when John Van Allen II, 34, allegedly fired several shots at him on Interstate 84 in August, KGW reports. Allen -- a trained military veteran who was on a road trip with his three children -- was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest.
On the video released this week, Allen gets pulled over for speeding and exits his vehicle. He stands still, staring at Zistel. The officer tells him repeatedly to get back in the car, but Allen resists, and eventually pulls a handgun. He begins firing and taking cover behind the cop car, then retreats, showing no visible signs of injury. Zistel calls dispatch as Allen flees.
Allen was found several miles down the road, dead in his car. Zistel had a bullet wound in his left side.
One of Allen's former friends said she couldn't believe it was him in the video.
"It's just completely out of character -– it doesn't add up," she told The Oregonian.
A relative said that Allen was taking his children back to his native South Carolina.Nobody could guess why he chose to fire on the officer, the New York Daily News reports.