By Bryan Horwath
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper fired a shot into a woman’s vehicle after she pointed a gun and said “I will shoot” during a traffic stop in Las Vegas, a Highway Patrol official said Wednesday while also showing body camera footage of the confrontation.
Barbara Lu, 51, of Montana, was taken into custody just before 1 a.m. Sunday on an Interstate 15 on-ramp at St. Rose Parkway, Highway Patrol Col. Michael Edgell said in a news conference. She had been pulled over after running a red light, Edgell said.
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Trooper body camera footage played at the news conference showed the shooting as well as moments leading up to and after it. The bullet fired by the trooper went through the driver’s side window and the vehicle’s windshield.
The video showed a dog from Lu’s vehicle lunging at one of the troopers as Lu — who is heard screaming in the footage — refused to get out of her vehicle, Edgell said.
Dramatic video
Moments later, a trooper dash cam video showed two troopers outside Lu’s closed driver’s side door as one attempted to break the window.
In body camera footage from another trooper, that trooper can be heard saying “she’s got a gun” before he darted to the back area of the vehicle.
Seconds later, a trooper identified by Edgell as Kenneth Ducut fired one round. Video clearly showed the flash from Ducut’s shot. Lu then dropped what she had been holding and raised both empty hands.
Edgell said he was proud of how the troopers handled the situation.
“We never fire a warning shot whatsoever and I don’t think any police department will,” Edgell said. “We train our people that you only shoot to stop the threat. She had a gun in her hand and she pointed it at a trooper. She had a gun in her hand when he fired that shot.”
Edgell said Lu, who was taken to a local hospital before being taken into custody, was not seriously injured, but she did have some scratches on her neck.
“In a perfect world, she would have gotten out of the car and we would have conducted business on the side of the road,” Edgell said.
Multiple charges
According to Las Vegas Justice Court records, Lu was charged with assault on a protected person with use of a deadly weapon and resisting with a firearm, both felonies, along with misdemeanor counts of DUI, failing to obey a red light, and parking a vehicle on the highway.
A Clark County Detention Center online jail roster showed Lu listed as an inmate as of Wednesday afternoon. Lu is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on Feb. 25, according to online records.
When they searched Lu’s vehicle, troopers found a loaded Sig Sauer 9 mm pistol, Edgell said.
In addition to the dog seen lunging at troopers, Lu also had another dog in her vehicle, Edgell said. The dogs were taken by animal control workers who later arrived at the scene, Edgell said.
The Metropolitan Police Department was investigating the incident, and Edgell said the ongoing probe would probably last several months.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
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