LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper's badge was damaged by a bullet during a shootout that left a fleeing gunman dead during a traffic stop overnight near a Las Vegas-area freeway, officials said Friday.
Trooper Chelsea Stuenkel, a department spokeswoman, said she didn't know if the male trooper was wearing a protective vest.
But she said he wasn't seriously injured in what she called an exchange of gunfire a little after midnight on Boulder Highway south of U.S. 95.
"It did hit the badge, which is pretty lucky," Stuenkel said.
The suspect was shot dead at the scene, near the Boulder Station hotel-casino. His name and the identity of the trooper weren't immediately made public.
Stuenkel said she didn't know the caliber of the bullet fired at the trooper, how many shots the officer fired, who fired first, or whether a weapon was recovered.
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The trooper was checked out by paramedics and wasn't taken to a hospital. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the shooting.
The gunman had been one of two passengers in a white Cadillac four-door sedan that Stuenkel said was driven by a woman.
The driver and the other passenger, a male, remained in the vehicle when the gunman opened a back door and ran. Both were questioned, and neither was arrested, Stuenkel said. Their names also weren't made public.
Officials haven't said whether the trooper's patrol vehicle recorded dashboard video of the gunfight or whether it was captured on security video at a nearby insurance office or the casino.
Las Vegas police were handling the investigation.
