Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

NHP: Motorist who shot road worker dead after chase, gunfire

Updated Wednesday, June 16, 2021 | 6:03 p.m.

CARLIN — A Department of Transportation worker was wounded and his suspected assailant died after a highway patrol chase and shootout with law enforcement officers on a remote stretch of highway in northeastern Nevada, authorities said Wednesday.

The road paving crew member was shot about 10 a.m. in a State Route 278 construction zone south of the mining town of Carlin, and a trooper chased the suspect in a white Dodge Ram cargo van south toward Eureka, Highway Patrol Sgt. Matthew McLaughlin said.

The worker was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital where McLaughlin said he was in stable condition.

Troopers and local sheriff’s deputies used spike strips to disable the van about 35 miles north of Eureka, and the man inside exchanged gunfire with authorities before he was wounded and arrested about three hours later.

The man died in an ambulance on the way to Eureka, McLaughlin said.

The identities of the suspect and the wounded worker were not immediately made public.

McLaughlin said investigators don’t think anyone else was with the suspected gunman in the van.

The highway was expected to remain closed between Carlin and Eureka for until late Wednesday while authorities investigated.