North Las Vegas gunman who killed 5 took ex-girlfriend hostage

The gunman who killed five people at a North Las Vegas apartment complex took his ex-girlfriend hostage after he fatally shot her daughter and the daughter’s girlfriend in her presence, police said Thursday.

Eric Adams, 48, killed himself in front of police officers about 12 hours later during a manhunt that ended in a Las Vegas neighborhood.

As of Thursday evening, the Clark County coroner’s office had identified four of the victims. They were: 59-year-old Damiana Moreno, 40-year-old Amy Damian, 24-year-old Kayla Harris and 22-year-old Jeannette Faria-Webster.

At a vigil at the apartment complex on Wednesday, people who said they were related to Moreno and Damian said the first name of the fifth victim was Christopher.

A 13-year-old girl who was also shot by Adams suffered critical injuries, police said.

Meanwhile, police confirmed Thursday that Adams had a lengthy, quarter-century criminal history in Clark County, which included domestic violence cases.

At the time of the shooting late Monday in the 300 block of Casa Norte Drive, Adams had an active restraining order that prevented him from making contact with the woman he took hostage, police told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

North Las Vegas police alleged that Adams had beaten a former partner in early November and had choked her until she lost consciousness. By that time, he had been arrested at least 49 times and had a domestic violence conviction earlier that year, according to a criminal complaint.

“I’m going to kill you, you are going to be my sixth victim,” Adams allegedly said on Nov. 2.

“(The victim) stated that she lost consciousness for what she believed to be about a minute,” according to the arrest report. “When she awoke, she saw Adams next to her holding a ‘claw hammer’ threatening to kill her.”

The victim, who wasn’t identified in the report, crawled to a bathroom in which she locked herself, police said. She reported the attack the next day.

Adams was arrested in March on three counts of domestic violence, including two felonies, North Las Vegas Justice Court records show. The case was apparently dismissed earlier this year, although a protective order remained in place.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the woman he took hostage was the victim in that case, but police said Thursday that her restraining order was set to expire next month.

Police on Thursday released additional details about the rampage.

Adams showed up to Kayla Harris’ ground-level apartment and started a fight with her mother, police said.

At some point, he shot Kayla Harris and Harris’ girlfriend, police said.

Upon hearing the commotion, an upstairs neighbor, a 20-year-old man who knew the downstairs resident, went over to “help the women,” police said.

“For unknown reasons, Adams shot the man inside the downstairs apartment,” police said.

Adams then went to the upstairs apartment where the 20-year-old man had come from and Adams shot the man’s 59-year-old grandmother, 40-year-old mother, and his 13-year-old sister, police said. The teenage girl remained in critical condition Wednesday.

Police said Adams was not aware that two additional family members described as teenagers were in the upstairs apartment. They were unharmed.

Adams then went back downstairs and took his ex-girlfriend hostage, police said.

In the early morning hours Tuesday, the woman escaped Adams and approached a Metropolitan Police Department officer who was at an unrelated traffic stop in Las Vegas.

A task force working to find Adams received information that placed him at a business about 5 miles south of the crime scene, police said. They later spotted Adams in a Las Vegas neighborhood in the 1600 block of Dwayne Stedman Avenue, where he fled into a backyard.

“Officers began giving Adams verbal commands to drop the firearm, however Adams ignored those commands and died by suicide” about 10 a.m., police said.

Las Vegas Justice Court records show that Adams had a criminal history that dates back to 1999. Cases included several felony domestic violence incidents, robbery and drug trafficking.

Nevada Department of Corrections records show that Adams was convicted of battery with substantial harm, and in 2010 was ordered to serve 16 to 48 months in prison. Additional details on that case were not available.

Police said victim advocates were assisting the surviving victims, and noted that they would not release additional details.

Resources for victims of domestic violence are available at the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-7233 or texting 88788. Locally, the Shade Tree shelter can be reached 24/7 at 855-385-0072.

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a loved one or friend, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.

Review-Journal intern Peter Breen contributed to this report.