A mother and her son are dead and a 16-year-old girl is fighting for her life in a shooting that claimed multiple victims.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims, but multiple news outlets have identified one of the adult female victims as Diana Hawatmeh, believed to be the mother of the 16-year-old girl who was injured and the 12-year-old boy who was killed. The identity of the other adult female who died, and her relationship to the other victims, remains unknown.
According to the report, officers found a suspect, identified as 38-year-old Jason Neo Bourne in a car with the 12-year-old boy believed to be Hawatmeh’s son. It is not yet clear if Bourne, who later died, was any relation to the boy: According to the CNN report, he lived in an apartment at the complex where the victims had been staying, but not in the same unit.
Bourne was reportedly in possession of a gun and appeared to be holding the boy hostage.
“As officers attempted a de-escalation dialogue with the suspect, the suspect held his firearm to the juvenile’s head, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” Henderson police said in a news release obtained by CNN.
Citing police sources, the report states that Bourne fired shots while inside the vehicle. Both Bourne and the boy were hit at some point during the gunfire, when police were also shooting. Officers then removed the boy from the car and attempting lifesaving measures.
Ultimately, both the boy and the suspect died at the scene.
According to KUTV, representatives of the Skaggs Catholic Center in neighboring Utah said in a Facebook post that Hawatmeh and family members were part of the community and resided in Utah. According to the report, Hawatmeh was a substitute teacher and Zumba instructor.
The Facebook post also reportedly said that Yasmeen is the name of Hawatmeh’s injured daughter; and also claimed that Hawatmeh’s husband and the couple’s older son had no involvement in the shooting on Tuesday.
According to CNN, the Skaggs Catholic sent a letter to the community on Wednesday identifying the boy who was killed as Joseph.
“It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of Diana Hawatmeh, and her son Joseph, a seventh-grader at Saint John the Baptist Middle School,” the letter reads. “… They tragically passed in Henderson, Nevada, yesterday morning.”
It is unclear at this time why the family members were in Henderson or how long they had been staying there.
This is a developing story and all information is preliminary. CrimeOnline will provide further updates when more information is available.
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[Feature image: Diana Hawatmeh (R) and son/Facebook]
