NHP trooper hit but uninjured, suspect dead in Las Vegas shooting
A tiny star pinned to the chest of a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper may have saved his life early Friday.
The trooper, who has not been identified, was struck by a bullet fired by a fleeing suspect but was uninjured. The suspect, who has also not been identified, was killed when the trooper returned fire, according to an NHP spokeswoman.
It’s unclear what exactly stopped the bullet that struck the trooper, spokeswoman Chelsea Stuenkel said.
“As far as ballistics go, that’s all under investigation,” she said. “A round did strike his badge. I can’t say if that’s what stopped it. But I do know there’s damage to his badge.”
The shootout happened about midnight Friday, after the trooper pulled over a white Cadillac with two men and one woman inside on the southbound side of Boulder Highway, just south of U.S. 95. It was unclear as of Friday afternoon what the trooper had initially pulled the Cadillac over for.
Stuenkel said the trooper spoke with the people inside after stopping the vehicle and was headed back to his car when the man sitting in the back of the Cadillac got out of the car and ran into a parking lot just north of Boulder Highway.
“The trooper engaged in a foot pursuit with the suspect,” Stuenkel said. “The suspect engaged the trooper with gunfire. The trooper returned gunfire. The trooper is OK … he is uninjured. The suspect was declared deceased on the scene.”
This Trooper was struck in the badge by gunfire last night. We are grateful the Trooper went home safe to his family pic.twitter.com/q3PfF5j4P4
— NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) August 26, 2016
During the chase and shootout, the two other people inside the Cadillac remained in the vehicle and were later detained, Stuenkel said.
“As far as any pending charges, that’s under investigation,” she said.
Stuenkel also spoke about how members of the highway patrol react after troopers are shot.
“Always, when we hear about these incidents, it’s very scary in this line of work,” Stuenkel said. “We hear about it all the time throughout the country. But when it’s one of our own like this it’s shocking.
“But we come together as a family and we’re just so thankful that the trooper is OK.”
The northbound and southbound lanes of Boulder Highway between U.S. 95 and Desert Inn Road/Lamb Boulevard were closed after the shooting Friday, but reopened again about 9:30 a.m.
The coroner’s office will name the suspect killed once family has been notified.
Metropolitan Police Department will be investigating the officer-involved shooting aspect of the incident.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter. Contact Marian Green at mgreen@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0287. Follow @mgreen0708 on Twitter.
