A heartbroken man from New Mexico can’t comprehend why a North Las Vegas, Nevada, man killed three of his family members this week and left his 13-year-old granddaughter in critical condition in a “senseless” shooting spree.
Sal Muñoz, 59, of Albuquerque, made the nearly 600-mile drive to the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday morning after learning someone fatally shot his ex-wife, daughter and grandson, and seriously wounded his granddaughter Monday night at an apartment complex.
Police identified the suspect as Eric Adams, 47, who died by suicide Tuesday morning as authorities closed in during a search for him, officials said.
“It’s just very hurtful,” Muñoz told NBC News late Wednesday afternoon. “A senseless act. He goes into somebody’s house and starts shooting people.”
Muñoz said his ex-wife, Damiana “Anna” Muñoz, 59; his daughter, Amy Muñoz, 40; and his grandson, Christopher Damian, in his early 20s; were killed in the shooting and that his 13-year-old granddaughter, Olivia Muñoz, was critically injured. Authorities have not officially released the names of Muñoz’s family members.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office on Wednesday night said that Kayla Harris, 24, died from wounds to her head, neck and chest in the shooting.
Another woman killed in the rampage has not been publicly identified.
The Las Vegas police Force Investigation Team is assisting in the investigation, North Las Vegas police said.
North Las Vegas police have said that officers initially responded to an apartment complex shortly after 10 p.m. Monday and found two wounded women in their early 40s and late 50s who were later pronounced dead. A wounded 13-year-old girl was also at the apartment, police said.
Muñoz said that apartment belonged to his ex-wife, who lived upstairs from Adams, who she sometimes drove to the bus stop so he could get to work.
He said that his 16-year-old son told him that he was also in the apartment when the shooting began, but that the gunman didn’t know he was inside. The teen was not injured.
At a nearby apartment, officials discovered two other women in their mid-20s and a man in his early 20s who had been shot, police said.
“It’s very, very hurtful,” Muñoz said. “I’m not sure what was going through [Adams’] mind.”
North Las Vegas officials declined to provide additional comment Wednesday night.
Muñoz said his son has shared an account of how the violence unfolded Monday night: Shortly before the shooting, Muñoz said his grandson, Damian, got a call from the daughter of Adams’ girlfriend, telling him to come downstairs to play video games.
Two people were dead when Damian arrived, and then Damian was shot, Muñoz said his son told him.
Damian’s mother went downstairs to check on her son, and then told Adams she was going to call police, Muñoz said. Adams followed her upstairs, according to Muñoz, and he fatally shot Muñoz’s daughter and ex-wife and wounded his granddaughter.
Muñoz struggled to find the words to describe his slain family members. He said his daughter, Amy, was on the verge of becoming a professional respiratory therapist.
“I’m still grieving. I’m not going to have them in my life anymore,” Muñoz said.
Bobbie Anne Adams told NBC News on Wednesday that her son, Eric, was attending church and trying to live a positive life. Adams, who had six children, worked odd jobs, was a good singer and kept the family laughing at reunions, his mother said.
“What was done that night, I don’t wear it like a trophy. But he loved his family, his mother and his children,” she said. “He wasn’t perfect, but he was still my son.”
Adams had a criminal history that dates back decades, and in February was charged with domestic battery by strangulation, according to NBC affiliate KSNV of Las Vegas.
His previous arrests include burglary with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm, trafficking cocaine, battery of a prisoner and battery of a police officer, the station reported.