California Highway Patrol officers were searching Friday for an armed suspect who they say shot at officers during a car chase before a standoff that closed Interstate 15 near the California-Nevada border for hours.
The pursuit began when a Highway Patrol officer attempted to stop a speeding driver around 2 a.m., said Officer Adam Carmichall, a CHP spokesman. The driver refused to pull over and shot at police during a short pursuit before stopping on the interstate median, he said.
Officer tried for almost seven hours to coax the driver out of the vehicle, but there was no response, authorities said.
Officers approached the car around 9 a.m. and found it unoccupied. A search for the suspect began in the area, Carmichall said.
Interstate 15 is the main route across the Mojave Desert for travel between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Carmichall said the southbound lanes of the road had reopened by late morning and noted northbound traffic could detour onto State Route 127 at Baker, follow signage to Pahrump, Nevada, and approach Las Vegas from the west.
