The 20-year-old driver who killed himself and a family of three when he drove his car into oncoming traffic at more than 100 mph may have wanted to die, Metro Police said Thursday.
Las Vegas resident Clark McBride was being pursued by Metro Officer Kevin McClary on Sunday when the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier he was driving crossed into oncoming traffic on U.S. 95 and slammed into a 2000 Subaru Forester carrying Steven and Amber Smith and their 9-week-old daughter, Opal.
The fatal crash came hours after the department was contacted by McBride's roommates, who reported him missing after they found up to six suicide notes scattered throughout their apartment, Deputy Chief Jim Owens of Metro's special operations division said.
Detectives on Thursday were investigating whether McBride may have intentionally steered his car into the path of the young family's car, he said.
"Who knows what was on this guy's mind?" Owens said. "I can't say this guy intentionally ran into these people. Unfortunately that's one thing we'll probably never know."
McClary, 44, suffered serious injuries after his patrol car flipped several times as he tried to avoid debris from the accident. He remained at University Medical Center on Thursday in serious condition, Owens said.
The injuries have left the 14-year Metro veteran unable to give detectives investigating the crashes a thorough account of what happened. Investigators have several unanswered questions, including how fast he was traveling or whether he was following established protocol when he attempted to stop McBride's vehicle, Owens said.
Officers are generally instructed to avoid high-speed pursuits in urban areas, instead allowing department helicopters to track the suspects, Owens said. The rapid developments that led to Sunday's left no time for a helicopter to be dispatched, he said.
Early evidence does not indicate that an aggressive pursuit on McClary's part contributed to the fatalities, Owens said.
"The first time he (McClary) spotted the guy he was doing over 100 mph," he said. "In this particular case it wasn't our actions that made him (McBride) drive so fast."
Owens said abridged logs show that McClary contacted dispatch when he first clocked McBride at 106 mph in Indian Springs and later contacted the Nye County Sheriff's Department as the yellow Chevrolet approached the county line.
At the time of the collision, sheriff's deputies contacted by McClary were traveling to the highway to place spike strips designed to stop the car on the road, Owens said.
Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said, "We were just notified and were headed in that direction" when the crash occurred. "It was not until my people got on the scene and looked at the totality of the scene that we realized what happened. That's how fast it progressed."
Recorded conversations between McClary and dispatchers also show a concern for the safety of other drivers, Owens said. On those tapes, the officer tells dispatchers McBride's Chevrolet is weaving at high speeds, at times traveling onto the dirt shoulder.
"The officer certainly perceived a danger for folks on the highway," he said. "You could hear it in his voice that 'this is extremely dangerous.' "
The chase continued across the county line and ended near Mercury, he said. About 20 miles were covered. The exact duration of the pursuit is under investigation, Owens said.
A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper also recorded McBride's car at a triple-digit speed but, because McClary had already begun following the vehicle, did not join the pursuit, Owens said.
The deputy chief would not say whether he thought the accident would have occurred had McClary not pursued the speeding Chevrolet.
"If he (McBride) stayed on a perfectly straight area, who knows?" Owens said. "That would be speculation on my part. I certainly wouldn't bet on him making it through the corners.
" ... As the officer you make those decisions (whether to pursue a suspect) every day. If this guy (the suspect) kills someone, he (the officer) has to live with this. It's a very tough spot to be in for the officers. That's just one of the judgment calls he made at that time. It ended in tragedy."
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