COLUMBUS (AP) — Police in Ohio’s capital city shot and killed a coyote Thursday night after it bit an officer who had stopped to help a stranded motorist, the police department said.

The coyote appeared out of nowhere and first tried to attack a state road worker also helping the motorist on an I-70 exit ramp on the city’s east side, police said. When the officer tried to intervene, he was bitten by the animal, said Sgt. James Fuqua, a spokesman for the Columbus Division of Police.

The coyote ran away after the officer punched it, then returned after other officers arrived as backup. The original officer tried unsuccessfully to use pepper spray on the animal, and responding officers also tried unsuccessfully to use a stun gun on the coyote before shooting it, Fuqau said.

The officer was treated at the hospital and is expected to be fine.