Printable VersionA multiple shooting at a Lake Havasu City residence late Saturday killed five adults and left one woman in critical condition who was later flown to a Las Vegas hospital.
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The shooter, 27-year-old Brian Diez, of Havasu, kidnapped two young children, 13-month old Cole Diez and 4-year-old Kaia Diez, and fled from the scene. Brian Diez was located later in California after taking his own life.
The victims who died at the scene are Deborah Langstaff, 23; Primo Verdone, 24; Russell Nyland, 42; Ashley Nyland, 20. Brock Kelson, 20, died at Havasu Regional Medical Center.
As of press time, Deborah Nyland, 44, survived and was taken to Las Vegas.
Lake Havasu City Police Department issued a nationwide Amber Alert at 2:52 a.m. Sunday in an attempt to locate Brian Diez, who had fled in his 2010 Chevy Silverado pick up truck. The alert stated Diez was armed and dangerous, according to the department’s Nixle.com electronic alert system. At 3:22 a.m. Havsau police investigators learned Deiz’ vehicle was located at a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., residence. At about that same time, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to that residence on the report of a suicide. SBCSD deputies arrived and found Diez dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a press release.
The Amber Alert was cancelled at 3:55 a.m. after police confirmed Diez drove three hours to Rancho Cucamonga where he dropped the children off at a family member’s home. The children are safe, police said.
Sloma said the incident began at about 11:50 p.m. Saturday when Brian Diez entered a home in the 300 block of Opossum Drive and shot six adults “at close range.”
“(Nyland, the survivor,) is actually the one who called 911 at 11:57 p.m. (Saturday),” Sloma said.
“As far as we know, (Diez) entered the door and immediately began shooting,” said Lake Havasu City Police Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Harrold. “We will conduct our investigation as we would normally do in a homicide investigation as far as on scene crime scene investigation and as far as events leading up tot eh shooting and after. … It is standard procedure.”
Police have determined Diez used a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun during the shooting.
Diez and Langstaff had the two children in common during a long-term relationship, but the two have been estranged as of late, according to a police press release.
Diez was arrested earlier this month for violating an order of protection that Langstaff had taken out on him, Harrold said. Both young children were at the residence during the shooting.
The sequence of events as to who was killed first is yet to be determined, authorities reported. It also is unknown if drugs or alcohol played a role in the slaying. Diez’s body will be autopsied in San Bernardino County because his suicide occurred in that county.
Havasu police have determined that Primo Verdone’s birthday was Saturday, and it is possible that the gathering at Langstaff’s that night was celebrating the milestone.
“We don’t know for sure, but that is our best guess,” Harrold said.
You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.
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