LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper was struck and critically injured trying to lay spike strips to stop a vehicle chase on a busy freeway near the Las Vegas Strip, and the driver of the vehicle that hit him was fatally shot, authorities said Tuesday.
Authorities converged in the area as a Las Vegas police helicopter flew the state trooper to University Medical Center. Trooper Ashlee Wellman said he was in critical condition.
Cellphone video obtained by KSNV-TV showed several Nevada Highway Patrol vehicles pursuing a dark-colored sedan on Interstate 15 and a patrol SUV striking the car before it spins to a stop.
Multiple troopers on foot approach the vehicle and a sound like gunshots can be heard.
Officials characterized the driver as a suspected carjacker, but details of what led to the pursuit were not immediately made public. It’s unclear whether the driver was shot by police.
The trooper who was injured was out of his patrol vehicle when he was hit, Trooper Travis Smaka told reporters at the hospital. Smaka did not identify the trooper but called him a veteran officer. He said the man’s family was at the hospital.
Interstate 15 was closed in both directions for several hours after the chase, crash and shooting unfolded before noon near Sahara Avenue.
The freeway is among the busiest roads in Nevada and the closures created a massive traffic tie-up as vehicles were bottlenecked south of the Spaghetti Bowl interchange with U.S. Route 95.
Northbound lanes were reopened by evening rush hour, while southbound lanes remained shut down. Wellman said the southbound freeway was expected to remain closed for several more hours.
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