Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Lake Havasu City police: 6 dead in shootings, 1 treated in Las Vegas

Updated Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010 | 3:19 p.m.

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Brian Diez

Lake Havasu City police say five people were killed by a man who entered a home in the Arizona community and started shooting, then fled with his two children. Another gunshot victim was being treated in Las Vegas.

Police say the alleged gunman was found dead early Sunday in California of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the two young children, 4-year-old Kaia Diez and 13-month-old Cole Diez, were safe with relatives.

Lake Havasu City dispatchers received an emergency call late Saturday night from a woman who said an intruder had come into a home and shot several people.

Officers responding to the scene found four people dead and two wounded. Deborah Langstaff, 23, Primo Verdone, 24, Russell Nyland, 42, and Ashley Nyland, 20, were found dead inside the house when police arrived, officials said.

Brock Kelson, 20, was taken to Havasu Regional Medical Center, where he died a short time later, officials said. The sixth gunshot victim, Deborah Nyland, 44, was taken by helicopter to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, police said. Her condition is unknown.

Police said the alleged gunman, 26-year-old Brian Diez, had been in a long-term relationship with Deborah Langstaff, but their relationship was estranged at the time of the shooting. Deborah Langstaff is the mother of his two children, whom he abducted during the incident, officials said.

At 3:22 a.m. Sunday, police said they learned Diez' vehicle was parked at a residence in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. When sheriff's deputies from San Bernardino County arrived, they found Diez dead from an apparent suicide.

Lake Havasu City Police are working with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to continue the investigation.

Lake Havasu City is about 150 miles south of Las Vegas.

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