Colorado athlete killed in mass shooting in Las Vegas

North Las Vegas police investigate the scene of Monday night’s shooting at an apartment complex in North Las Vegas, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting at the apartments outside Las Vegas that left five people dead and a 13-year-old girl critically injured. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The man who opened fire in a Las Vegas-area apartment complex, killing five people and wounding a 13-year-old girl, has been barred from possessing a firearm because of previous felony convictions, court records show.

The medical examiner’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.

The suspect, Eric Adams, later shot himself when confronted by North Las Vegas police.

Police have not released any information about what type of firearm Adams used in Monday night’s shooting or how the suspect obtained it. Under Nevada law, people with a criminal conviction are prohibited from owning or carrying a firearm.

Suspect was visiting ex-girlfriend and her family

According to police, Adams was visiting his ex-girlfriend in a ground-floor apartment when they got into an argument and Adams shot the woman’s 24-year-old daughter and her friend, killing both. Adams then shot a neighbor, a 20-year-old man who had come out of his second-floor apartment to help.

After shooting the neighbor, police said, Adams went into the upstairs apartment and opened fire again, killing the neighbor’s grandmother and mother and seriously wounding his teenage sister.

According to police, Adams then “took his ex-girlfriend hostage” and fled in a vehicle. The woman was able to escape in the early morning hours and flag down a police officer who needed help.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday, police learned the suspect had been seen at a North Las Vegas business. When officers arrived on scene, they saw the suspect running into the backyard of a nearby home with a firearm.

Officers pursued Adams, but he refused to drop his weapon and committed suicide, police said.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office said Adams was 48 years old at the time of his death, not 47 as initially reported by police.

The suspect in the Las Vegas shooting has been convicted several times

According to court records, Adams had been convicted of serious violent crimes in Clark County since at least 1994, including assault, domestic violence and battery on a police officer.

Just last February, Adams was arrested by North Las Vegas police on a charge of domestic violence by strangulation. Court records show the case was dismissed because the victim did not cooperate with authorities.

Michael Hyte, a public defender who briefly represented Adams in the case, said Thursday he had no comment.

In addition to Harris, the coroner has also identified the two women killed in the upstairs apartment as Damiana Moreno (59) and Amy Damian (40). The other two victims have not yet been identified.

In a statement, Tandberg, president of Adams State University, said it was a privilege “to see Kayla shine on and off the field.”

“It is almost impossible to understand and cope with the loss of a young woman so early in her promising life,” he said.