Officer, wife, 5-year-old son identified in murder-suicide

A Las Vegas police lieutenant killed his wife and 5-year-old son before turning the gun on himself, the Clark County coroner's office determined today.

Medical examiners ruled that Kathryn Michelle Walters, 46, a former Las Vegas police officer, and Maximilian Walters, 5, both died from gunshot wounds to the head. Lt. Hans Pieter Walters, 52, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Police were called to the family's Boulder City home at 8:20 a.m. Monday, after Walters called and said he had killed his wife and son and was setting his house on fire. The man also threatened to harm responding officers, Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said. Henderson police are handling the investigation for the Boulder City department, which lacks resources for such major investigations.

Walters, a patrol supervisor in the department's Enterprise Area Command, had been with the department since 1991.