Armed robbers shot my friend’s brother-in-law, a volunteer with a sheriff’s dept., as he rushed to the aid of a fellow cop.  Sixty-three year old Philip Grigg a father and grandfather, now clings to life in a Phoenix hospital.

On December 31, a gray and cold day, Grigg, a tractor-trailer driver, hopped into his truck — probably on his way to a local market, according to his wife.

But on the way, a car driven by armed robbers fleeing a patrol car crashed into Grigg’s pickup. Grigg watched as Officer Scott Sefranka pulled up to arrest the men. But when Sefranka struggled, Grigg jumped out to help. In a flash, one of the alleged suspects, Roger Sharp, grabbed Sefranka’s gun and fired. He hit both men—at close range.

Back-up officers closed in on Sharp and an accomplice just blocks away. But it was too late for Grigg. Days later, as he fought to stay alive, Grigg’s wife of 25 years, Elizabeth (“Betsy” to her loved ones), told reporters she was proud of her husband.

“It was the wrong spot, the wrong time, but the right time. The good Lord sent him to do a job and that’s my Phil,’” she told 3TV.

Two weeks after the shooting, four suspects are in custody. Officer Scott Sefranka has been released from the hospital, while Grigg remains in critical condition

Grigg is a member of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Posse and a U.S. Army and Vietnam veteran, according to news reports.  Questions will no doubt be asked in the months ahead: about the training of Maricopa Posse volunteers, about lax gun control laws in Phoenix and nationwide.

But as Grigg clings to life, Betsy, her family—and my dear friend—can only struggle with the tragedy befallen a loving and heroic man.

Update: After nearly seven months in the hospital, Grigg was finally released and is recovering at home.