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Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper was shot and killed during a traffic stop Sunday night in West Caln Township, and officials later identified the driver as the man who fired before killing himself.

Lt. Col. George Bivens, the state’s acting police commissioner, said Cpl. Tim O’Connor was dispatched shortly after 8 p.m. after a call came in for an erratic driver. Bivens said O’Connor reported that he had pulled over the car at an intersection in West Caln Township, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Philadelphia, and that O’Connor was last heard from as he approached the vehicle.

Bivens said O’Connor was killed when the driver fired from inside the car. The commissioner said O’Connor did not respond to radio calls and that troopers who were sent to check on him “found a very bad situation,” as he described it at a news conference Monday at Paoli Hospital in Chester County.

Authorities identified the shooter as Jesse Nathan Elks, 32, of nearby Honey Brook. Bivens said Elks then got out of the car, walked a short distance away, and shot and killed himself with a pistol.

Bivens told reporters that O’Connor was a 15-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police and that he was married with a young daughter. Bivens said, “Anybody you talk to tells you what a great guy he was,” describing the trooper’s reputation.

Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke at the news conference and said he told O’Connor’s wife, Casey, and the trooper’s parents that “there were many questions about the shooting.” Shapiro said, however, “the one thing that we absolutely know for certain is that their son, their husband, was a hero and he died protecting others,” and added, “That is a noble calling and that is something we are profoundly grateful for.”

O’Connor, 40, joined the state police in 2010, the agency said. Officials said he became the 105th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to be killed in the line of duty.

Chester County’s district attorney, Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe, said investigators would look into Elks’ background and motives. Shapiro also ordered U.S. and state flags to fly at half-staff to honor O’Connor as the investigation continued.