Watch: Cellphone footage captures armed citizen saving deputy by shooting his attacker

Intense footage was recently released from Office of the State Attorney of Lee County shows a citizen saving a deputy from harm after he shoots a man attacking the officer.

On Nov. 14, Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy Dean Bardes was working a wreck on Interstate 75 in Estero, Florida, when a vehicle traveling at very high speeds nearly hit him as it sped by. Bardes got into his vehicle and gave chase for several miles before it finally came to a halt.

Edward Strother, 53,  rushed Bardes as he exited his car, vaulting over the driver's side door and tackling Bardes to the ground where he began to pummel him with his fists.

Vehicles began to crowd around the scene, not coming to the aid of the deputy, but instead pulling out their cellphones to record the scene. Reportedly, not a single 911 phone call was made from the scene.

No one appeared ready to help the deputy, that is until Ashad Russell, an armed citizen, calmly walked up to the Strother and Bardes and warned Strother to get off the deputy.

Strother reportedly told Russell, “You better kill me.”

Meanwhile, Bardes was shouting for Russell to shoot Strother. "Shoot him! Shoot him!" he shouted.

Russell fired three rounds into Strother, who fell to the ground after the third shot. He then calmly walked away, reportedly in shock over what he had just done, and dropped his gun on the ground.

Russell will face no charges, and is being declared a hero by the Lee County Sheriff's Department, according to Daily Mail.

"I thank the hero that recognized the imminent threat, rushed to Deputy Bardes’ aid, and ultimately stopped that threat," said Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott.

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"In a day and age where race is a near instant focus for media and other pundits in police incidents, the fact is that this hero happens to be a man of color who stopped another man of color from further harming or killing a white cop; thereby reminding us that black lives matter, blue lives matter, and indeed, all life matters," he said. 

Bardes was taken to the hospital, but suffered no serious injuries. Strother, on the other hand, was rushed to the hospital as well, but died shortly after.

Watch the footage below. Be warned, it may be shocking for some viewers.