A young Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was shot and killed, a second trooper was shot and wounded, and a third was injured in an incident in Avondale late Wednesday night. 

DPS identified the trooper who died as 24-year-old Tyler Edenhofer.

“He’d been one of my troopers for 52 days,” Col. Frank Milstead, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said Thursday afternoon.

[RAW VIDEO: DPS gives new info about shooting that killed trooper in Avondale]

He also shared what Edenhofer's mother said to him at the hospital Thursday morning -- "You just got him."

"And she’s right, he just got here,” said Milstead. “He’d been one of my troopers for 52 days.”

"I will never forget her words ...," Milstead added.

[RELATED: How you can honor Edenhofer, other law enforcement members | GoFundMe account in Edenhofer's honor]

DPS Capt. Tony Mapp said Edenhofer was shot in the shoulder; the bullet then ricocheted down.

Trooper Dalin Dorris, who was first on the scene and immediately asked for backup, was shot in the shoulder. Trooper Sean Rodecap was hurt during the struggle with the suspect.

[PHOTOS: Trooper Tyler Edenhofer | Troopers Dalin Dorris and Sean Rodecap]

Milstead identified that suspect as 20-year-old Isaac King, saying he had no criminal history.

King was initially placed in a medically-induced coma, but on Friday was said to be awake and alert.

[PHOTO: Isaac King]

The gun that killed Edenhofer and wounded Dorris belonged to Rodecap; King managed to grab it during a struggle.

A taser was used  on King at some point during the skirmish.

Milstead ran through the timeline of Wednesday night's events, saying it started at about 10:17 p.m. when troopers received a call about a male suspect who was in and out of the roadway on the eastbound lanes of I-10 near Avondale Boulevard, throwing things at cars. 

"Our radio operators received a call of a subject in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10, about Avondale Boulevard and the subject was in and out of the roadway throwing things at cars," Milstead said. "Some citizens pulled over to the right-hand side to actually get the subject out of the roadway."

[RELATED: ADOT: Eastbound I-10 in Avondale shut down due to police situation]

[SLIDESHOW: 1 trooper killed, another wounded in shooting on I-10 in Avondale]

Dorris then arrived on scene and made contact with the suspect. Milstead said Edenhofer, who was in his final days of field training, and Rodecap, who was not in uniform, arrived on scene.

[RAW VIDEO: Police situation closes EB I-10 in Avondale]

A fight between troopers and the suspect ensued, lasting several minutes. During the struggle, Rodecap lost his service weapon to the suspect and the suspect fired two rounds from the weapon, Milstead said. 

[SPECIAL SECTION: DPS trooper killed]

Edenhofer, who just graduated from the DPS advanced trooper academy on May 4, was killed. He was hired by DPS in September 2017 and was also a U.S. Navy veteran.

That struggle with King, which involved three troopers and several police officers, went on for about eight minutes. At some point, King managed to get hold of Rodecap's gun, Milstead said. It's not clear exactly how that happened.

Edenhofer was with Rodecap for his training. Rodecap was in blue jeans and a t-shirt wearing a different gun holster from what he would if in uniform. DPS said he was meant to serve as a bystander, but it was his gun King got his hands on during an eight-minute fight on the roadside, DPS said.

DPS said they do know Trooper Rodecap’s gun holster was a non-retention type, which means it only had a snap up on top of it, rather than having a locking system that would prevent somebody from grabbing it. So they’re still working to figure out if King pulled that gun off of Rodecap, or if it fell onto the ground during that fight.

We spoke to other local police chiefs who told us generally, officers are issued a large holster with a lock that goes with their uniform. Most officers buy their own holsters to use when not in uniform, and generally those are much smaller with less protection around the weapon. 

[MORE: Tributes pour in for fallen Arizona DPS trooper]

Dorris took a bullet to the shoulder, a through-and-through wound, according to Mapp. Dorris was taken to a local hospital and has since been released. Milstead said Dorris is in "good spirits." 

Rodecap was not shot, but he was hurt in the scuffle with the suspect. He also was treated at a local hospital and then released.

[RAW VIDEO: Procession for fallen DPS trooper leaves hospital]

"The DPS family is in mourning. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Lives have been shattered and ruined and we're all in a little bit of a state of shock this morning," Milstead said.

"Today is evidence of the violent nature of policing in our nation," Milstead said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. "It's also evidence that just because somebody is unarmed doesn't mean they won't become armed and harm somebody. In this case, what initially was an unarmed man armed himself with one of our weapons [and] fired two shots fatally wounding one of my troopers and shooting another one."

[SPECIAL SECTION: 2018 Officer-involved shootings]

[RAW VIDEO: DPS briefing on overnight police situation on I-10]

Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags at all state office buildings to be lowered to half-staff from Thursday until Friday at sunset to honor Edenhofer, who leaves behind a fiancee and a mother.

"Arizona today mourns the loss of one of our brave state troopers, Trooper Tyler Edenhofer, who was killed in the line of duty and we pray for the health of Trooper Dalin Dorris who sustained critical injuries during the incident," Ducey said. 

Goodyear PD assisted DPS in taking the suspect into custody, according to Milstead.

[VIDEO: Procession for fallen DPS officer shot by suspect in Avondale]

King is in custody and was being treated at a local hospital, DPS said. Milstead said that while King does not have a criminal history, he reportedly has a history of mental health issues and was on medication for anxiety and depression -- investigators do not know what specific medication -- at the time of the incident.

[SPECIAL SECTION: 2018 Officer-involved shootings]

It's not clear why King was out on I-10 Wednesday night, nor have investigators said what he was throwing at cars.

Milstead said investigators have spoken with King's parents.

"[His mother] thought he was in the backyard during this event," Milstead said.

The investigation is ongoing, including sifting through some 70 pieces of evidence collected from the scene.

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