CHP Officer Shot; Motorist Held

A California Highway Patrol officer was shot in the shoulder early Friday after he and two other officers stopped to help what appeared to be a stranded motorist in the Mojave Desert, authorities said. The 36-year-old officer, a 10-year CHP veteran, was in serious but stable condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, a nursing supervisor said.

The alleged gunman, wounded in the leg when the other officers returned fire, was arrested about five hours later when he was found hiding in bushes about 200 yards off Interstate 15, CHP Officer Willie Haley said. The wounded officer and the suspect were not identified. Three officers stopped to help a man and woman standing near a tan Mazda parked on the shoulder on the southbound I-15. “For some reason, the suspect became combative and began to run away,” Haley said. “As he was running away, he reached into his waistband, pulled out a gun and opened fire on the officers. The officers returned fire.” The gunman ran into the desert and was arrested by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers.