Las Vegas, Nevada: Trooper Shoots Driver Who Struck Highway Patrol Vehicle Near Boulder Highway and Sahara Avenue

A driver was hospitalized with gunshot wounds on Friday after striking a Nevada Highway Patrol patrol car in east Las Vegas and then fleeing the scene and crashing into a pole, KLAS reported.

According to Nevada State Police, the incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. on October 30 near Boulder Highway and Sandhill Road, when a vehicle struck a Highway Patrol patrol car. During the incident, the trooper discharged their firearm, police said. The driver fled before crashing into a pole near Sahara Avenue and Boulder Highway.

Two locations, one incident

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police initially reported the shooting around 4:18 p.m. near Boulder Highway and Mojave Road, close to Sahara Avenue. That early location sits by the Sahara Avenue intersection, where the fleeing driver crashed. The State Police account places the start of the incident at Sandhill Road, farther along Boulder Highway.

The Sahara Avenue and Boulder Highway intersection was shut down in all directions after the incident, KLAS reported. A Regional Transportation Commission alert at 4:34 p.m. showed all lanes of Sahara Avenue blocked at Boulder Highway, and drivers were told to avoid the area on Friday evening, on an afternoon when storms had already flooded streets across the Las Vegas valley.

Driver in hospital, trooper on leave

The driver was transported to a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds. The driver's condition has not been released, and police have not named the driver.

The trooper did not report any serious injuries but was transported to a hospital as a precaution, KLAS reported. The involved trooper has been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with department policy.

FOX 5 Las Vegas reported the same core event on Friday night, that a trooper shot at a suspect who hit a Highway Patrol vehicle in east Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the Highway Patrol investigation of an officer involved shooting near Boulder Highway.

Who is investigating

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team is investigating the shooting, KLAS reported. Nevada State Police said additional information will be released following the preliminary investigation.

What led the vehicle to strike the patrol car has not been explained in the reports so far, and neither has the exact sequence between the collision, the shots and the short flight that ended at the pole near Sahara Avenue. Those are the questions the Force Investigation Team work is meant to answer. KLAS first posted its report at 5:38 p.m. Pacific time on Friday and updated it at 11:16 p.m. as the State Police details came in.