Neighbors, friends talk about killings, suicide attempt

Nothing seemed amiss earlier Tuesday, when Bobby Scherrer waved and smiled to neighbors as he walked the family dog.

But hours later, gunshots sounded from his northwest valley home on La Sombra Street.

Bobby, 41, collapsed in the backyard. He, his sister, Bonnie Scherrer, 38, and their mother, Linda McCarty, 62, were all found dead after the shooting stopped.

Neighbors and Las Vegas police identified the shooter as Jim McCarty, 54, Linda's husband and Bobby and Bonnie's stepfather.

After killing his family - including the dog - McCarty turned the gun on himself, according to police. He was the only survivor of the possible murder-attempted suicide and was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday morning. He will be booked in absentia while he is hospitalized for severe head trauma on three charges of murder, police said.

The pool of blood in the backyard was visible to neighbors Wednesday.

Josie Montgomery, 63, said she had known the McCartys since the late 1980s, when both families bought homes on La Sombra.

She said she saw Jim, Bobby and Bonnie together, acting normal, on Monday.

"He (Jim) was a hard worker. He always went to work. He was just a really nice guy," Montgomery said. "I have been in their home. This just really shocked me."

Bobby's longtime friend, Charles VanLandschoot, 40, said Bobby moved in with his mother and stepfather about a decade ago. Bonnie, who had never completely recovered from a car accident when she was younger, had always lived with her mother, he said.

The McCarty family had been plagued by illness in recent years.

Jim suffered from pancreatic cancer in recent years, but neighbors said they thought his disease was in remission. Linda had a stroke a few years ago and needed a wheelchair, they said.

VanLandschoot suspected the family's finances were not great. Court records show that Jim McCarty filed for bankruptcy in 2002, a case that dragged on until 2008.

Jim worked as a truck driver for a beer company, and Bobby worked at the same car wash since he was 19, VanLandschoot said.

"Bobby was doing a lot to take care of that family," he said. "That's why he moved back in the first place."

Bobby and Bonnie's biological father lived in Las Vegas but died in 2010.

Montgomery said Jim McCarty was the only solid earner of income for that family.

"All of the money issues were on his shoulders," she said.

A few hours after police cars left the neighborhood Wednesday, residents gossiped at their mailboxes or while walking their dogs.

Andrew Newkirk, 23, lives next to the McCarty home.

He said he heard about seven gunshots in a span of five minutes. When he took a look outside, he saw blood in his neighbor's yard. There was also a bullet hole in the stucco wall on his home.

Newkirk made sure his daughter was safe and called police.

SWAT officers, initially unsure what they were dealing with, later evacuated the neighborhood, he said.

When SWAT forced entry into the home, a piece of flying wood shattered his window.

A police detective told him the department would pay for the damage, he said, but that wasn't his main concern.

"I'm just glad we were all OK," Newkirk said.

VanLandschoot said he can't believe his friend Bobby, whom he called "Sticks" because of his thin frame, is gone. He cried yesterday for the first time in years, he said.

"Seeing innocence ripped out like that just really killed me," he said.

Staff writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.