NOVI, Mich. – A man crawling from the woods onto I-96 in Novi attacked an EMS worker who was trying to help him, according to police.
One of the paramedics is in the hospital after being cut with the man's knife, officials said.
Investigators spent Tuesday evening along the freeway, trying to piece together what happened. Drivers trying to get home were stunned by what unfolded in front of them.
Michigan State Police troopers said an EMS crew was called to the area of I-96 and Meadowbrook when drivers saw a man crawling out from the woods and onto the freeway.
The EMS workers pulled up in an ambulance and got him into the rig, but then the man attacked them, cutting the male worker in his neck and chest area, police said.
The EMS workers pushed the man out of the ambulance and locked the doors as a Novi police officer who saw the incident pulled up and took the man into custody, according to authorities.
Michigan State Police troopers are investigating the incident. They spent hours on the side of the freeway Tuesday, searching for items the man might have dropped in the woods.
Police got the injured EMS worker and the suspected attacker to the hospital. The EMS worker has injuries that were not considered life-threatening. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday.
Officials said the suspected attacker has some kind of mental health issue. His car was found in a nearby mall parking lot.
Investigators aren't sure what the man was doing on foot in the woods.