Las Vegas police on Friday investigate the scene of a shooting involving a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper and a homeless man near Durango Drive and U.S. Highway 95. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper assisting a female Las Vegas marshal shot at and wounded a homeless man who was throwing rocks at them on Friday afternoon in a field near Durango Drive and U.S. Highway 95.

Authorities transported the homeless man to University Medical Center; his condition was unavailable late Friday.

"This officer basically was left with no option but to fire shots," said trooper Kevin Honea, spokesman for the Highway Patrol.

City marshals responded to a call that some homeless people were in a field across from a Walgreens at Durango and Farm Road. The trooper was called to assist marshals shortly after 4 p.m., according to the Highway Patrol.

When the trooper arrived, a homeless man began throwing rocks at him and a city marshal, Honea said.

The trooper and the homeless man then began to "tussle," and the trooper fell backwards, Honea said.

The homeless man continued approaching the trooper and throwing rocks, so the officer shot him, Honea said.

Authorities wouldn't comment on how many times the man was shot or provide additional details of the shooting.

Another man at the scene, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap, was handcuffed and placed in a city marshal's patrol car shortly after the shooting. Authorities wouldn't comment when asked whether the second man was involved in the incident.

The Metropolitan Police Department, which investigates the Highway Patrol's officer-involved shootings, is looking into the incident, Las Vegas police Lt. Lew Roberts said.

Havier Domenesh, 14, said he was in the parking lot of the Walgreens at the time of the shooting. He said he saw two people he described as "bums" in the field and watched one of them throw rocks at the trooper and the city marshal.

Domenesh said he watched the trooper fire at the homeless man and heard two gunshots.

Melissa Janos, 16, who lives near Durango and Farm, said she often sees homeless people collecting bottles and cans in the area. She called them a nuisance.

"I hate seeing bums out here," she said.

In June, a Highway Patrol trooper shot and killed 33-year-old Adam Cooper after Cooper went on a rampage at a mine in Overton.

Cooper, who had a history of mental illness, hijacked a front-end loader at the mine and rammed it into other mining equipment. He also used a 40-ton dump truck to ram several fire engines that had arrived to put out fires set by Cooper.

A Clark County coroner's inquest jury found the trooper in that shooting, Michael Stapledon, justified in shooting and killing Cooper.