A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for attacking a Phoenix police officer who was responding to a car accident.

Joseph Lopez pleaded guilty in January to one count of aggravate assault, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced his sentencing on Monday.

“This was a brutal, unprovoked attack on officer (Morgan) Bullis that caused serious injuries to her,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said.

Bullis was responding to a hit-and-run involving a vehicle that had crashed into the front yard of a residence “when she was ambushed by the driver and shot multiple times,” an MCAO release stated.

Five rounds were fired, one striking Bullis, causing serious injury to her left hip and one causing shrapnel to injure her lip. 

After the shooting, Lopez ran to a nearby apartment complex and barricaded himself for several hours as negotiators attempted to convince him to leave, according to the release.

“After securing a search warrant, police made entry by explosively removing the door. Even then, the defendant did not immediately surrender but instead hid in the attic leading police to deploy gas which caused the defendant to exit through a vent in the roof,” the release stated.

The defendant was apprehended shortly after.

MCAO officials said it was not his first run-in with the law. As a criminal street gang member, at the time of his arrest, Lopez had five prior felony convictions and was on probation, they said.

Bullis required multiple surgical procedures to remove the bullet and shrapnel from her hip and lips and faced four months of physical therapy to be able to walk normally again before she could return to work, according to MCAO.