Police seek whys for boy’s actions

North Las Vegas police said they were puzzled Wednesday as to why a 16-year-old boy fatally shot by a police officer Tuesday got out of a car brandishing a toy pistol.

Police are trying to clear up other questions surrounding what led Western High School student Billy Finks to drive a stolen car to a rival school Tuesday morning half an hour before he was slain wielding the chrome plaything the officer thought was a real firearm.

When Finks emerged from the car at the end of a dead-end road near Decatur Boulevard and Rancho Drive just before 9 a.m., the officer repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the gun, said Lt. Art Redcay, department spokesman. When the teen didn’t, the officer opened fire.

"He told him to stay in the car, so we have no idea why he would get out of a car with a toy gun," Redcay said. "It wasn’t a smart thing to do, we do know that."

Finks had extensive contact with police, said a juvenile justice system source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The teen had been charged with at least a half-dozen counts of petty larceny stemming from six separate incidents. In another incident last year, a school police officer arrested Finks on a robbery charge, which was reduced to extortion in Clark County Family Court, the source said. And authorities had dropped a minor drug charge Finks faced in another incident.

After an interview with detectives, the 15-year-old with Finks at the time of the shooting was booked Tuesday night into Clark County Detention Center on two felony counts stemming from the theft of the car, Redcay said. Police have not released the juvenile’s name per department policy.

Police began pursuing the two boys in a car Finks was driving about 8:40 a.m. at Cheyenne High School. A man on a bicycle approached a group of Clark County School District police officers at the school, pointed out the car the boys were in and told officers the vehicle had nearly run him off the road.

Redcay said that as school district officers approached the car, the boys sped away.

"We don’t know yet what he was doing at the school, but we’re still investigating it," Redcay said.

While fleeing, Finks and the boy passed a North Las Vegas police officer who determined from a records check that the car was stolen. The officer broadcasted a description of the car and its direction.

Redcay said another North Las Vegas officer spotted the car at Alexander Road and Decatur and followed it to Roberta Lane, a dead- end dirt road just west of the North Las Vegas Airport.

When the boys came to the end of the road, the officer pulled up behind their car. The officer then got out of his car, drew his sidearm and positioned himself behind his patrol cruiser’s open door.

Redcay said the boys ignored several shouted commands from the officer to remain in the car. When Finks exited, Redcay said, he turned with his hands held together near his chest with the chrome barrel pointing at the officer.

The boy ignored several shouted commands to drop the gun, Redcay said. The officer fired two shots, one of which fatally struck Finks in the chest.

Coroner Ron Flud said an inquest likely will be scheduled for March 23 or March 30.