Pictured: The wife gunned down by police lieutenant who also killed their son, 5, before committing suicide



The first pictures have emerged of Las Vegas police lieutenant Hans Walters and the wife he murdered on Monday morning, along with the couple's son, age 5.



Investigators say Walters shot Kathryn Walters, 46, and young Maximilian in the head and then set fire to their house in Boulder City, Nevada.

The 20-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department then confronted officers who had arrived outside the suburban house.

After refusing to surrender, he stepped back inside the burning building and committing suicide, according to detectives.



Tragic: Investigators say Lt Hans Walters, 52, shot his wife Kathry, 46, in the head and then killer their son Maxamilian, 5, before turning the gun on himself



Burned out: This is all that remains of the house where Hand Walters killed his family Hazardous: Detectives had to put on helmets and masks before they could enter the home where a police lieutenant killed his family on Monday

A neighbor heard Walters yell, 'I did not do this,' to the armed officers who were closing in on his home 20 miles outside Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The coroner formally identified all three victims of the horrific murder-suicide on Tuesday.



'There was an incident today involving one if Metro's lieutenants,' a somber Gillespie said in a 2 1/2-minute statement to reporters at a hastily called news conference. 'Several bodies were discovered.'

Gillespie, the elected head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the lieutenant was a 20-year Las Vegas police veteran. Gillespie spoke of 'untold grief' for family members, friends and co-workers, but took no questions.

Horror: The terror of a family being murdered and a home being burned to the ground shocked the quiet town of Boulder City

tragic: The age of the young boy who was reportedly killed by his father is unknown

He said the investigation in Boulder City, which is about 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, was being handled by police in neighboring Henderson.

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said a man called 911 at about 8.20am Monday and told a dispatcher he killed his wife and child, set his house afire and would shoot anyone who approached.

The home is owned by Hans Walters, according to Clark County assessor records.

Many know Walters as a Las Vegas police lieutenant married to a former Las Vegas police officer, Kathryn Walters. The Review-Journal reported that she left the department in 2005.

Boulder City police arrived to find the homeowner with a handgun in the doorway of the burning house before he retreated back inside and apparently killed himself.

No shots were fired by police or SWAT officers from Henderson and North Las Vegas who later found three bodies inside, Paul said.

'We're investigating the incident as a murder-suicide at this time,' the Henderson police spokesman said.