Suspect in shooting sought by police

Keith Paul

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001 | 9:39 a.m.

Henderson Police were searching this morning for a man who shot at an officer several times, striking his police car but not injuring the officer.

The truck the man was driving was found about 7:40 a.m. in the Green Valley Business Park, but the suspect was not located this morning, police said. Officers continued searching an area around Sunset Road and Mountain Vista Street for the gunman.

While driving behind a white F-150 pickup about 4 a.m. on Sunset Road near Eiger Way, the officer ran a computer check on the license plate. The plate was registered to a different car, Officer Terry Bowler, a police spokesman, said.

The man continued on Sunset Road toward Sunset Way, and the officer turned on the police car's lights to pull the driver over.

"The suspect slowed down and acted like he was going to pull over, but then he made an abrupt U-turn and fired seven to nine rounds, striking the officer's vehicle at least four times," Bowler said. "The rounds hit the officer's door and front quarter panel."

The officer did not return fire but started to chase the suspect, Bowler said. The police vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe, stalled after about 200 yards, likely because of damage from the bullets, Bowler said.

Henderson Police's SWAT team and other officers searched the area. The Clark County School District has a bus yard in the area. Each bus was checked by officers before being allowed to go pick up students.

Two schools in the area, Thurman White Middle School and a Vo-Tech High School, were closed as police searched the area, but were allowed to open. Additional officers were put on campus this morning, Bowler said.

The truck found in the business center parking lot had been reported stolen to Metro Police, Bowler said.

The suspect was described as a white man, with long brown hair and possibly wearing a baseball cap. He also may have had tattoos on his arm.