Former Adams State University basketball player Kayla Harris has been named as one of the victims in a Las Vegas mass shooting.
Harris was killed on Monday, June 24, when a gunman opened fire at an apartment complex in north Las Vegas, her family confirmed with her alma mater.
The shooting took the lives of five people in total and critically injured a 13-year-old girl who remains in critical condition, according to the Associated Press.
After completing her Bachelor’s degree in the fall of 2023, Harris was working toward her Master’s degree in Business Administration at Adams State, located in Alamosa, Colorado.
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The Las Vegas native helped Adams State reach the semifinals of the women’s Division II South Central Region tournament earlier this year, ultimately falling to No. 1 seed Texas Woman’s University. In the final game of her career, Harris finished with a season-high 15 points.
“I am personally devastated to learn of Kayla’s tragic death,” Adams State President David Tandberg said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Adams State community, I express my heartfelt condolences to her family and friends and the entire Grizzly community during this extremely difficult time. We are truly overcome with the grief.”
Tandberg added, “We were privileged to watch Kayla excel on and off the court. It feels nearly impossible to understand and cope with losing a young woman so early in her promising life.”
Earlier this month, Harris posted a carousel of photos via Instagram from her summer in Las Vegas, which now acts as a commemorative space for friends and family to eulogize her.
“a legend that’s never forgotten 💔,” one person commented. Another wrote, “I apologize it took this to tell you again.. I love you 🕊️💔.”
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According to the AP, a man identified as 47-year-old Eric Adams opened fire near the intersection of Commerce Street and Lone Mountain Road in Las Vegas on Monday, killing a woman in her late 50s, a woman in her early 40s and two in their mid-20s, including Harris.
After the shooting, the gunman fled the scene and was not located by authorities until the following day, Tuesday, June 24.
Upon being found at a Las Vegas business, the man fled into the backyard of a nearby residence where he ultimately committed suicide after being commanded to drop his gun by police.
Authorities are describing the shooting as an “isolated incident.”
