Mental health services blamed in teen shooting

Jen Lawson

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 8:55 a.m.

Renee Steele said her 16-year-old son is troubled and prone to violent outbursts that sometimes left her bruised.

She gestured to the fresh bruises on her upper arms Thursday afternoon, saying, "This is nothing compared to what he's going through."

Her son was shot in the arm by a Metro Police officer Thursday morning after he allegedly pulled a knife during a foot chase near Rainbow Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

He faces a surgical reconstruction of his arm and may never gain full use of it again, she said. But Steele doesn't fault the officer. Given the situation, she said, the officer had no other choice.

"As a mother, I do not blame him," she said while sitting in her aunt's dining room. "Shooting a 16-year-old -- I know it's got to be devastating for him."

She and her son got into an argument earlier, she said, and when he came by his great aunt's house, she thought maybe he was going to apologize. She was wrong.

He told her to call the police, saying, "'Let's get this over with,"' she said.

Steele said her son started slashing her tires, yelling threats at her and ringing the doorbell continually.

He told her if he had a gun, he'd shoot himself. Frightened, she called 911.

When officers arrived at the home in the 1200 block of Nugget Creek Drive about 12:45 a.m., the teen ran and police chased him.

In the parking lot of the nearby Wildflower apartment complex where he lives with his mother, the boy turned abruptly and pointed a knife at officers, Capt. Jim Dillon said.

The officers had their Tasers in their hands during the chase, but Dillon said it escalated so quickly an officer fired his pistol at the teen.

"I heard the gunshot and my cousin had to catch me," Steele said. "I know my son, unfortunately, did egg it on."

Her son, who was not enrolled in school, has a long history of anger management problems and he has been using drugs, she said. He was not currently on any mood stabilizing medication nor was he under the care of the mental health system.

In Florida, where they lived until about seven years ago, she tried getting help for him but nothing seemed to work.

"He's been in residential treatment, a foster program. There are records upon records," Steele said.

When they moved to Las Vegas, his family services case was transferred via an interstate compact, she said. Until last year they were under the care of a caseworker with Clark County Child Protective Services.

The caseworker made visits to the house and he even witnessed some violent confrontations between Steele and her son, she said. But the caseworker inexplicably closed the case and now she is not able to get anyone at the agency to talk to her, she said.

"They dropped us like a hot rock," she said. "Nevada dropped us, period. In a way I do blame Nevada for what happened."

Ann Rubin of Child Protective Services said she was not able to comment.

"In a case where a child is shot by police, we are in no position to release any information," she said.

Steele's complaints about an inadequate social services net in Southern Nevada echo those of the parents of Jeffery Gaddis. Gaddis was shot dead by police earlier this month after a robbery. His parents said their son had an undiagnosed mental illness, and they blamed the shooting on a lack of mental health services for the uninsured.

Steele hopes that her son will turn his life around as result of his close call with a police bullet.

"I'm very grateful it was just his arm and not his head," she said, adding that she hopes "he can get the help he needs now."

He will be at University Medical Center for another three to seven days, Steele said. When he is discharged he will be charged as a juvenile with domestic violence and resisting arrest with a weapon.

"I'd like for him to come home eventually, but I'm not fooling myself -- I know it will be a while," she said. "This is a huge cry for help, and he needs it."