Armed woman killed by Metro left suicidal notes, had been drinking bourbon

A woman shot and killed by Las Vegas police last week had a "deadly plan" prior to exchanging rounds with officers, Metro Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said Tuesday.

Linda Lee Lush, 50, had previously served prison time in a case in which someone was killed in California, McMahill said. She had tried to kill herself before and left suicidal notes in the car where she would spend her final moments.

She was also sentenced to 13 years in Nevada for separate convictions here and in California, police said.

But it was SWAT officers called to a Chinatown parking lot who would eventually end her life.

A little more than an hour before police tried to stop her for driving erratically, Lush had called her parole officer from a pay phone to say that she was "doing wrong on purpose and was going to be arrested," McMahill said. She told the parole officer she had a gun in the glove box and was going back to California.

The Nevada Parole and Probation division of sent out an alert informing police that Lush intended to provoke "suicide by cop."

An undercover Metro officer spotted her speeding on Desert Inn Road near Valley View Boulevard at 8:38 a.m. that day, police said. Officers who responded tried to pull over the car on Desert Inn at Rainbow Boulevard, but she drove away.

Metro's policy is not to engage in road chases, but a helicopter tracked her for about 14 minutes.

Lush pulled into Mountain View Plaza shopping center, on Jones Boulevard and Desert Inn, where she pointed a gun at a man who was walking, McMahill said. He got away.

Officers pulled up at the strip mall and tried to talk to Lush, McMahill said. She refused to get out of the Dodge sedan police would later say was reported stolen in California.

Police saw her drinking from a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon and smoking an "illegal substance," McMahill said. She waved a gun and a knife and held a sign that said, "I'll see you again."

She pointed a gun at officers several times and said, "Either you can finish this now or I will."

The SWAT team feared Lush would move the car, McMahill said, and deployed a "pinch maneuver," in which two armored units trap a vehicle. Video from the armored vehicles show Lush shooting through her front windshield when the vehicles approach the car.

She was shot by four SWAT officers almost "simultaneously," McMahill said. The incident ended about 90 minutes after the initial call.

Inside the car, police found "suicide notes written by her," McMahill said. They read: "Hello my love please don't cry. It's not a sad time, I'm with my lord and loved ones. I'm home at last," and "I won't hurt civilians!"

Lush served time in California for a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon that stemmed from a 1983 slaying, McMahill said. She was imprisoned in Nevada for a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person in California and burglary, attempted murder and kidnapping charges in Las Vegas, both in 2002.

She got out in June 2014.

Clark County court records detail the Las Vegas case. Lush, also known as Linda Lee Delahoussaye, and William Harlow Richards Jr. burglarized a "building," robbed three men, and beat one of them with a bat.

During the burglary, the pair stole a car with California license plates, the complaint said. Lush paroled out of prison last June.

Lush attempted suicide in December in Henderson, McMahill said. She ingested "substances" and stabbed herself.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.