2 young adults dead in suspected murder-suicide in Walnut Creek

Scott Bertics shot Clare Orton at this home on Holton Court in Walnut Creek on Tuesday. Scott Bertics shot Clare Orton at this home on Holton Court in Walnut Creek on Tuesday. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 2 young adults dead in suspected murder-suicide in Walnut Creek 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 21-year-old Lafayette man fatally shot a 19-year-old woman at her family’s Walnut Creek home early Tuesday, then killed himself with the gun, authorities said.

The suspected gunman, Scott Bertics, had once dated the victim, Clare Orton, authorities said.

Bertics was a 2012 graduate of Acalanes High School in Lafayette who went on to Stanford University. Orton, a 2014 graduate of Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, attended San Diego State University.

Officers who responded to reports of gunshots at the house in the North Homestead neighborhood around 6:50 a.m. discovered the bodies of Orton and Bertics, police said.

The home where the shooting took place is one of three large ranch-style homes on Holton Court, a cul-de-sac in the hills a few blocks off of busy Ygnacio Valley Road. Neighbors said they had seen people come and go, but didn’t know anything was amiss until the quiet street was filled with police cars Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t hear anything this morning, but I’m in shock,” said one neighbor who asked that his name not be used. “I have a granddaughter the same age, so it hits close to home.”

Orton was studying environmental engineering at San Diego State and made the dean’s list in the fall semester, meaning she had a grade point average of at least 3.5, according to a university website. At Las Lomas, she ran cross-country and track.

Bertics also ran cross-country and track in high school, then went on to study electrical engineering and computer sciences at Stanford. University officials said he took a leave of absence after the fall 2014 semester.

Chronicle staff writers Vivian Ho and Jaxon Van Derbeken contributed to this report.

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale