The Nevada Highway Patrol on Wednesday released video footage from an early Sunday traffic stop that led to a trooper firing a round into a woman’s vehicle.

Col. Michael Edgell said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Barbara Lu, 51, was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Las Vegas early Sunday after she pulled out a handgun and pointed it at a trooper.

Trooper body camera footage showed Lu inside her vehicle after she was pulled over on an Interstate 15 on-ramp at St. Rose Parkway at around 1 a.m. on Sunday.

Dramatic video

As a trooper approached her vehicle and attempted to get Lu to exit, a dog came out of the vehicle and made an aggressive move at the trooper, the video footage showed.

Lu can be heard screaming and at one point said “I will shoot.”

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 that went through the driver’s side window and the vehicle’s windshield.

Video clearly showed the flash from Ducut’s shot. Lu then dropped what was in her hand 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, though 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. “Unfortunately, she was in control of that situation and we have to be as safe as possible. We weren’t going to approach that vehicle without another cover unit and we didn’t know what to expect at that point.”

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. A Montana resident, Lu is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing over the felony charges on Feb. 25, according to online records.

When they searched Lu’s vehicle, troopers later found a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol with one round chambered in the vehicle, Edgell said.

Along with the dog that appeared to attack one of the troopers, Lu also had another dog in her vehicle. The Metropolitan Police Department investigated the incident and Edgell said the ongoing investigation into the matter would likely last several months.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.