Woman shot to death at southeast Las Vegas apartment complex

Metropolitan Police Department officers responded at about 7 a.m. Monday to a call about a woman shot at the Villa Del Rio apartments, 3800 S. Nellis Blvd., near Twain Avenue.

Arriving officers found a woman in her mid-30s with at least one gunshot wound to the head, Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the deceased woman arrived at the apartment shortly before the shooting and was not living there.

Another woman lives in the apartment with her two daughters and her boyfriend, who moved in a couple of months ago, police said. The mother was in a backroom with her sleeping children, ages 12 and 4, when she heard gunshots from the front of the unit. McGrath said she took the children to a neighbor’s apartment, where she called police.

The man living in the apartment was seen leaving the scene just after the shooting. Police believe he is the shooter and are trying to locate him, McGrath said.

The motive for the killing and the relationship between the victim and the man who fled are unknown.

Review-Journal reporter Rio Lacanlale contributed to this story. Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Follow @lawrenlinehan on Twitter.