PALM BAY, Fla. — Family members of the Brevard County motorist who shot and killed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on the side of Interstate 95 on Wednesday say he was a good person who never got in trouble growing up.

Franklin Reed III's SUV had broken down in Martin County that morning, and a tow truck driver was assisting him when Trooper Joseph Bullock pulled up to help, Martin County Sheriff's officials say.

During that encounter, Reed killed Bullock, they said. Reed also tried to shoot the tow truck driver, but the gun jammed, saving the driver's life, investigators said.

An off-duty Riviera Beach Police Department officer who happened to be driving by confronted Reed and fatally shot him.

The SUV driven by Reed belongs to his mother, with whom he lived in Palm Bay. Investigators have met with her.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office has taken over the investigation into the trooper's slaying, while Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents are investigating the Riviera Beach officer's shooting.

Martin Sheriff's investigators say it's undetermined at this point why Reed shot and killed Bullock.

Reed's family told Spectrum News on Thursday night that he's nothing like the cold-blooded killer being portrayed. They say he didn't have a criminal record and only had some traffic tickets in his past.

We spoke with Reed's grandmother, step grandfather, and aunt in Palm Bay.

They said Reed was in Martin County for a construction job. They said he was a football player and at one point worked for FEMA during disasters.

His grandmother said she's raised Reed since he was 3 years old, and he never got in any trouble.

"We lost a grandson just like another officer of the law, too," Arlene Cooper-Ramos tells Spectrum News. "I loved my grandson. He was not only a person who reached out to help people, he was a person that was always willing, a standout person. And I just want justice to be done, because this is not right."

The family said they want closure and will wait as long as the investigation takes.

Trooper Joseph Bullock was shot and killed in the line of duty Wednesday morning while helping a stranded motorist on Interstate 95 in Martin County. (FHP)
Trooper Joseph Bullock was shot and killed in the line of duty Wednesday morning while helping a stranded motorist on Interstate 95 in Martin County. (FHP)