Colorado athlete killed in mass shooting near Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The man who opened fire at an apartment complex near Las Vegas, killing five people and injuring a 13-year-old girl, was banned from owning a firearm because of prior felony convictions, court records show.
The coroner’s office has identified one of the victims as 24-year-old Kayla Harris, who played college basketball at Adams State University in southern Colorado. She was working on a master’s degree in business administration, said David Tandberg, the university’s president.
‘Very traumatizing’: Family shares video of violent robbery involving multiple victims
The suspect, Eric Adams, later shot and killed himself as North Las Vegas police officers confronted him.
Police haven’t said what kind of firearm Adams used in the shootings on Monday night or how the suspect obtained it. Nevada law prohibits people with felony convictions from owning or having a gun in their possession.
Shooting suspect was visiting ex-girlfriend and her family
According to police, Adams was visiting his former girlfriend in a ground-floor apartment when they began arguing and Adams shot the woman’s 24-year-old daughter and her girlfriend, killing them both. Adams then fatally shot a neighbor, a 20-year-old man, who had come from his second-floor apartment to help.
After shooting the neighbor, police said Adams went into the upstairs unit and again opened fire, killing the neighbor’s grandmother and mother and critically wounding his teen sister.
Adams then “took his ex-girlfriend hostage” and fled in a vehicle, according to the police department. The woman was able to escape in the early-morning hours and flag down a police officer for help.
Just after 10 a.m. Tuesday, police learned that the suspect had been seen at a business in North Las Vegas, and as officers arrived in the area, they saw the suspect with a firearm, running into the backyard of a nearby home.
Officers followed Adams, but he refused to drop his weapon and died by suicide, police said.
The Clark County coroner’s office said Adams was 48 at the time of his death, not 47 as initially reported by the police department.
Vegas shooting suspect had multiple convictions
Since at least 1994, Adams had been convicted in Clark County for violent felony crimes, including battery, domestic battery and battery on a police officer, according to court records.
More recently, Adams was arrested in February by North Las Vegas police on suspicion of domestic battery by strangulation. The court record shows that the case was dismissed because the victim wasn’t cooperating with authorities.
Michael Hyte, a public defender who briefly represented Adams in the case, said Thursday that he had no comment.
FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox
Along with Harris, the coroner’s office has identified the two women killed in the upstairs unit as Damiana Moreno, 59, and Amy Damian, 40. The two other victims have not yet been identified.
In a statement, Tandberg, the Adams State University president, called it a privilege “to watch Kayla excel on and off the court.”
“It feels nearly impossible to understand and cope with losing a young woman so early in her promising life,” he said.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
