NLV officer shoots, kills teen-ager

A North Las Vegas police officer shot and killed the 16-year-old driver of a stolen car following a high-speed chase Tuesday morning when the boy wielded a toy the officer believed was a gun.

The officer told police investigators he repeatedly commanded the boy to drop what looked like a chrome handgun before he fired at the juvenile on a dead-end dirt road near Decatur Boulevard and Smoke Ranch Road.

"There’s no doubt he thought it was a real gun. It looks like a real gun," Lt. Art Redcay said of Tuesday’s shooting on Roberta Lane. "Any of our officers would’ve done this."

Though Las Vegas Valley police officers have in recent years shot at people brandishing BB guns or toy guns thought to be real firearms, law enforcement officials could not recall another fatal toy gun standoff in Southern Nevada.

The coroner’s office has not released the boy’s identity pending notification of relatives, but police said that he and a 15-year-old boy in the stolen car were Western High School students.

Redcay said the officer, whose name is being withheld 48 hours per department policy, is a 23-year-old rookie whose first anniversary with the department is today.

The incident began about 8:40 a.m. at Cheyenne High School, 3200 W. Alexander Road, a few miles away from the scene of the shooting. There, another North Las Vegas officer, Clark County School District police and a sergeant from Las Vegas police’s Gang Unit were investigating a tip that there would be retaliation for a Friday night nonfatal shooting involving high school students.

A person on a bicycle approached the officers and pointed out a car he said had almost run him off the road. A police computer records check on the car’s license plate revealed it was stolen Monday in a nearby neighborhood.

Redcay said when police approached the car to speak with the two boys inside, the car took off at a high rate of speed. Shortly thereafter, another officer spotted the car traveling west on Alexander near Decatur and tried to pull it over.

After a short, high-speed chase south on Decatur, the car pulled onto dead-end Roberta Lane, just west of the North Las Vegas Airport.

The officer pulled up behind the car, which was stopped at the end of blocked road, and ordered the boys to stay inside the vehicle.

The officer took cover behind his patrol cruiser door and drew his firearm, a standard police procedure when dealing with fleeing stolen car suspects, Redcay said.

Both the driver and passenger doors of the stolen car sprung open and the 15-year-old passenger got out. The officer repeated the command to remain the car, Redcay said.

The driver then exited the vehicle. The officer told investigators that when the driver turned toward him, he saw a silver glint near the boy’s waist, likely from the toy’s chrome barrel.

"He (the officer) yelled `Drop the gun, drop the gun,’ " Redcay said. "But the kid kept turning around. He had it near his waist and was crouched over, but he was bringing it up."

From about 15 feet away, the officer fired two shots from his .40- caliber pistol, striking the boy once in the chest. The other shot appeared to have struck the back of the stolen car.

Additional officers responding to calls for backup discovered the boy actually was brandishing a "realistic-looking, western-style cap- gun," Redcay said.

The passenger returned to the vehicle after the shooting, and later was taken into custody for questioning. It was unclear Tuesday what charges he might face.

North Las Vegas police placed the officer on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a coroner’s inquest into the shooting. That proceeding likely will be scheduled for March 23 or March 30, according to Coroner Ron Flud.

In some states, laws mandate that toy guns sold in stores must have neon coloring or a bright orange plug on the barrel indicating they are not real firearms. Nevada has no such law, according to Brenda Erdoes of the state Legislative Counsel Bureau.

But many national toy retailers that operate stores in Nevada, such as Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, decline to carry water guns or other toys that look like guns capable of firing fatal rounds. Most of those toys look like large "space-age" or futuristic guns, according to store managers for both retail chains.

In August 1998, a 38-year-old man pointed what appeared to be a real firearm at a roommate and a police helicopter near Lake Mead and Nellis boulevards. When Daniel Pineda ran into a nearby group of people with what was later discovered to be a plastic toy, a Las Vegas police officer shot him. He survived and the officer was cleared by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Use-of-Force board.

In January 1998, a Clark County School District police officer fired four shots at a 13-year-old boy with Down syndrome carrying a BB gun that looked like a rifle. Peter Liriano survived after sustaining gunshot wounds in an arm and leg. Police later determined the BB gun was plugged at the end.

THREE OFFICER-INVOLVED DEATHS SO FAR

Tuesday’s police shooting of a 16-year-old with a toy gun was the third Las Vegas Valley officer-involved slaying this year. Five were logged during all of 2000.

On Jan. 4, as many as five Clark County Detention Center officers at a time tried to subdue Philippe Le Menn inside a jail cell. The coroner ruled Le Menn died of asphyxiation, likely caused by pressure applied to his neck. A coroner’s jury last week ruled Le Menn’s death excusable homicide.

On Jan. 17, a Las Vegas police officer shot and killed David Michael Herrera, a 27-year-old schizophrenic man who walked toward officers with a knife outside his home. Officers tried to subdue Herrera with batons, pepper spray and beanbag rounds before resorting to deadly force. A coroner’s jury Feb. 16 ruled Herrera’s death justified homicide.