Coroner identifies Nellis airman fatally shot in southwest valley

By Rich Coleman

Published Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010 | noon

Updated Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 | 1:26 p.m.

An active duty airman at Nellis Air Force Base who was a father of four was shot and killed Wednesday night at his home, police said. The coroner's office on Friday identified the victim as 28-year-old Nathan Paet.

The coroner said he died from multiple, perforating gunshot wounds and ruled Paet's death a homicide.

Authorities received a 911 call at 11:31 p.m. reporting a man was shot at his home in the 9200 block of Alta Monte Court, near Mountain's Edge Parkway and Durango Drive in the southwest Las Vegas Valley. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Homicide detectives said Paet opened his garage door Wednesday night and was preparing to drive to work. But after hearing several gunshots, then suffering gunshot wounds, he went back inside his home before collapsing.

Witnesses said they saw a man in a tan or brown hooded sweatshirt running east on Alta Monte Court at the time of the shooting. Police said other descriptions of the man weren't available.

Nellis officials on Friday said Staff Sgt. Paet was an F-15 supply section technician assigned to the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Sergeant Paet joined the Air Force in 2002 and had been stationed at Nellis Air Force Base since November 2007.

“Sergeant Paet was an exceptionally talented and dedicated professional airman,” Lt. Col. Shane Henderson, commander of the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, said in a prepared statement. “He and his family are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

Neighbors on Alta Monte Court said they didn’t know Paet but believed the family had moved in a few months ago.

Greg and Lindsay Russell live across from the house and said the street was flooded with police minutes after they heard three gunshots. They said they also heard a woman and children crying.

“One of the little kids kept saying, ‘My daddy got shot! My daddy got shot!,’” Lindsay Russell said.

Greg Russell said he didn’t expect something like this in his neighborhood.

“The fact that it seems random...it makes us kind of worried. We’re definitely going to keep our doors locked for sure,” he said.

Erik Gutierrez, a three-year resident of the neighborhood, lives next door and was getting ready for bed when he heard the gunshots.

“This is a quiet neighborhood,” Gutierrez said. “Nothing like this happens out here. Someone just randomly coming up and shooting somebody...That’s terrifying.”

Anyone with information about the shooting is being asked to call Metro Police at 828-3521 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555, or visit www.crimestoppers.com.

Sun reporter Erin Dostal contributed to this report.