Family knows man arrested in shooting initially called road rage

Las Vegas police made an arrest in a so-called road rage shooting death Thursday while the family of the woman killed revealed another detail they hid: They know the accused shooter.

Erich Nowsch, 19, was taken into custody in the west valley neighborhood where 44-year-old Tammy Meyers was shot Feb. 12. She died two days later after being taken off life support.

Police said Nowsch is a gang member.

Robert Meyers Sr. said during a televised news conference that his wife often counseled Nowsch at a park just down the block from where both families live. She also fed him and gave him money.

“We know this boy — I couldn’t tell you this before. He knew where we lived,” the husband said. “We knew how bad he was, but we didn’t know that he was this bad, that he’s gotten to this point.”

And that was news to police.

“That didn’t all come together until today,” Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Tomaino said later about the connection between Nowsch and the Meyers.

The family’s narrative of what led to the shooting of Tammy Meyers has changed continually since police started investigating. And with each turn in the story, it looks less and less like a simple case of road rage. It has prompted public outcries where there was once sympathy.

Clark County School District officials said Nowsch and Brandon Meyers — the son police said was with his mother when she was shot — both went to Bonanza High School. The house where Nowsch was arrested is near the Meyers’ place.

Letting the public know his family knew Nowsch earlier “would’ve hurt what these good Metro detectives were trying to accomplish,” Robert Meyers Sr. said.

“There was things that couldn’t be said. Things that had to be said certain ways to get what we had done today, because there is more than one guy” involved in the shooting.

Las Vegas police are still looking for at least one other person linked to the slaying, Tomaino said. The Meyers family has said at least three people were in the car from which shots were fired.

‘ROAD RAGE’ SCARED PUBLIC

The case has drawn national networks to Las Vegas, something Metro acknowledged in a brief prepared statement Thursday.

Las Vegas police understand the need for the public to see the case resolved, Tomaino said in a news conference.

“I believe when people learned the death was the result of a road rage incident, it frightened many people,” he said. He declined to take most media questions.

Most people still have more questions than answers, Tomaino said before ending the briefing.

“We will provide additional information at the earliest possible convenience to balance the public’s need to know with our legal and investigative needs.”

The main takeaway, he said, is that the man suspected to be the shooter is in custody.

A Metro SWAT unit was on Cherry River Drive about noon and residents were not allowed back into their homes for several hours.

After arguing with a Metro officer and coming to tears on live TV, Meyers screamed at a CNN camera, “You made my wife look like an animal, and my son. That’s the animal, a block away! Are you happy?”

He then walked back to his house.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Metro served a warrant in the 7900 block of Cherry River Drive.

Nowsch faces charges including one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder and discharging a gun into a vehicle. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

Metro said Thursday that Nowsch was the man drawn in a sketch police circulated to find the shooter. That man was described as being in his mid-20s, 6 feet tall and about 180 pounds with spiked dirty blond hair and blue or hazel eyes.

As a shirtless Nowsch was being taken to a police car, he looked shorter than 6 feet and lighter than 180 pounds.

Police said the fatal shot came from a silver or gray sedan. The only vehicle visible at the house where Nowsch was arrested was a red Dodge Ram pickup.

BACKGROUND ON SUSPECT

Neighbors said that there was a noticeable change in Nowsch’s personality after his father committed suicide. He got into drugs, they said, and dropped out of high school.

Erich Nowsch Sr., 39, killed himself Feb. 9, 2010, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. His cause of death was listed as carbon monoxide poisoning. His body was found on an unnamed road in the mountains between the Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead.

A second but unrelated investigation in the neighborhood where Metro nabbed the younger Nowsch on Thursday revealed another detail.

Police closed the 7700 block of Success Court — two streets south of Cherry River Drive — about 5:30 p.m. and detained a man accused of pointing a gun at another person. The man is not linked to the death of Tammy Meyers, police said, but was a member of the same gang as Nowsch.

“They are claiming some type of (gang) affiliation,” said Metro Lt. Bobby Smith, mentioning the name Alta Block.

An Instagram account linked to Nowsch has multiple pictures of dried green leaves in plastic baggies, of him smoking cigarettes and a cigar, a bowl of cereal and candles at a street-side memorial. The most recently posted photo is nearly two years old.

Other Instagrammers blamed him for Tammy Meyers’ death Thursday in comments sections, with messages including “rot in prison,” “hope god forgives you” and “#killer.”

CRITICISM FOR CHANGING STORY

The public has criticized the Meyers family, too, after details from Metro’s investigation conflicted with their version of the story.

Dozens of people from across the country took to a GoFundMe page to protest its existence Wednesday. The page has been shut down, and Robert Meyers said he refunded more than $6,000 in donations for his wife’s funeral.

Robert Meyers said Thursday his wife went looking for Nowsch the night of the shooting because she knew one of the people involved. She was afraid trouble might follow them home, he said, so she and her 22-year-old son, Brandon, tried to divert them from the house.

Matthew Meyers, 20, said the first round of gunshots occurred away from his family’s house.

Initially, the Meyers family said Tammy Meyers was driving home Feb. 12 from Johnson Junior High School where she was teaching her 15-year-old daughter how to parallel park. She was in a crash with another car and sped home after the other driver threatened her, the family said. Tammy Meyers and her daughter arrived home on Mount Shasta Circle, but the car followed and gunned down the mother before she could enter the house.

But Metro said there was no crash on the way home and that Tammy Meyers and her 22-year-old son went out looking for the vehicle she had encountered earlier that evening. The son took his gun.

After finding the other car, Tammy Meyers and her son followed it, police said. At some point, the other vehicle began following the mother and son. It went all the way to their home.

There, a gunfight ensued. Shots were fired from the sedan, police said. Brandon Meyers shot back.

Tammy Meyers was struck in the head.

Anyone with information may contact Metro’s homicide section at 702-828-3521, or at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or crimestoppersofnv.com.

Review-Journal staffers Ricardo Torres and Kimberly De La Cruz contributed to this report. Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter @kudialisrj. Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.