Atlantic City, NJ – A police officer was stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he investigated a car crash on Friday night.

Officers were responding to a call for a hit-and-run in the 600-block of N. Kentucky Avenue on at about 6:30 p.m. on June 22 when a man who was not involved in the crash approached them, WCAU reported.

Police said 32-year-old Timothy Deal stabbed one of the Atlantic City police officers in the torso with a knife, according to a statement released by the Office of the Atlantic County Prosecutor.

The prosecutor’s office said that their preliminary investigation showed the officer had fired his weapon at Deal, putting an end to the attack.

The wounded officer was transported to AtlantiCare Medical Center City Campus Trauma Center where he was treated and released, WCAU reported.

Deal was also transported to the trauma center where he was pronounced dead, according to the statement from the prosecutor’s office.

An autopsy was conducted on Deal early Saturday morning and preliminary results revealed that he had died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police called the attack on the officer, whose name has not been released, totally “unprovoked,” and said officers had just arrived at the scene of a construction van that had smashed into a utility pole when the incident occurred, WPVI reported.

The Atlantic County Major Crimes Unit was conducting the investigation without participation from the Atlantic City Police Department as is protocol for officer-involved shootings, the prosecutor’s office said.

No motive for the attack on the police officer was known, and authorities have asked anyone with information to contact 609 909 7800 or 609 909 7200 after hours.