A lawyer fatally shot his former daughter-in-law and her new husband at a Las Vegas law office on Monday morning during a deposition in a child custody case, then killed himself, the authorities said.
The gunman, Joseph Houston, 77, opened fire just a few minutes into the deposition at the Prince Law Group, a firm on the fifth floor of an office building in the community of Summerlin, the authorities said, killing Ashley Prince, 30, and her husband, Dennis Prince, 57, the founder of the firm, who were sitting across the table from him. The police believe the gunman then fatally shot himself.
The authorities did not provide further information about the child custody case, but in a news conference on Monday evening, Lt. Jason Johansson of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the victims appeared to be “very specific targets.” The gunman had “shooed” another person in the room away, he added. “We believe we have a good idea of what the motive is right now,” he said, but did not offer further details.
The Prince Law Group did not respond to requests for comment on Monday afternoon, but in a statement at the top of its website it thanked people for messages of concern and sympathy “over the tragic violence” at its offices. It lists Dennis Prince as the firm’s founding member and “lead trial counsel.”
Public records show that the gunman’s son, Dylan Houston, has two children with Ms. Prince, whom he divorced in 2021. Neither he nor his family members could be immediately reached by phone on Monday afternoon.
A law firm at an address affiliated with the elder Mr. Houston, the gunman, said that it had “no comment.”
Two of the victims’ relatives refused to comment when reached by phone on Monday afternoon. Other family members could not be reached on Monday and Tuesday.
Footage from the local ABC station showed employees who were inside the six-story office building lingering across the street as officers investigated.
The sheriff said that hundreds of people had been evacuated.
New York Times