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A former criminal turned into a Good Samaritan when he rescued a police officer who was shot during a dramatic shoot-out on a Texas freeway.

John Phillip Lally, 40, is a man with a criminal record from Houston, Texas, who was in the right place at the right time to save a life on Saturday at 10 am.

Lally got caught in the middle of a chaotic shootout on Highway 59 in Texas - which came after a police chase and a car crash.

'As soon as I jump out of the car there's gunshots going off. Then I looked to my left and saw that cop get shot,' Lally said.

The car chase came after officers had attempted to pull over a suspect in a stolen vehicle - which ended in a crash involving multiple cars.

Officer J. Gibson approached the suspect's car giving commands - which is when the shooting broke out and he was shot in the leg by the car-jacker.

Lally came to the rescue in this moment and managed to grab the injured officer and drag him to safety behind his vehicle.

'That's when I grabbed that cop by his vest and dragged him all the way back to my work truck,' Lally told Fox 26.

While Lally sat with Gibson behind the truck - other officers put a tourniquet on the victim to help with the excessive bleeding from his gunshot wound.

The remaining officers continued to pursue the suspect and in a tragic ending to the scene, the 19-year-old suspect was shot multiple times by five officers, police said.

The suspect later died from his injuries in hospital.

Lally is the business owner and CEO of a T shirt company called Real Deal Wreckers - which is based in Houston, Texas.

'It sucks that a lot of people got injured, it sucks that even the guy who caused the whole thing - that he lost his life. I think a higher power knows what they're doing'

In a video of the aftermath - which Lally uploaded to Facebook - he's seen breathing heavily as he re-approaches the scene of the car crash after rescuing the Gibson.

A female car crash victim was sitting on the ground with one shoe off gripping the hands of another woman and hyperventilating as Lally told her she was going to be okay.

'When that cop got shot - I helped drag him behind my truck over there and I talked to Trujillo and he gave me his number,' Lally told another officer at the scene.

Lally's Facebook post received comments giving praise for his heroic act.

'Thank you so very much for your bravery and swift action in saving the police officer! You are a hero in my eyes! God bless you Sir,' said LeAnn Sowell on Facebook.

'If ya'll see somebody that you can help, help them. That's the main moral of the story,' Lally said.