Family creates memorial to shooter

A Silver Springs man who police say gunned down his longtime girlfriend then turned the gun on himself, remained on life support Thursday, according to police.

But friends and family have created a memorial to him online, saying he died Wednesday at 3:13 p.m.

According to Lyon County Sheriff Lt. Bryan Veil, Scott Lawson was still alive Thursday morning, though brain dead, in a Reno hospital following the Monday morning killing of Tia Shine, 31, and Lawson's attempted suicide.

The 33-year-old father called 911 Monday just before 1 p.m. to say he'd shot and killed Shine, mother to two of his children, and he intended to kill himself inside Shine's Deodar Street home.

In the 24-second phone call, Lawson said the couple's 16-month-old son was also in the home and for police to "come on in," according to reports.

Lawson then hung up. Attempts to reach him by dispatchers went unanswered.

When officers entered the home they found Shine dead of multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Nearby was Lawson, also suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. In a bedroom officers found the couple's unharmed toddler asleep in his crib. Lawson was flown to Reno Regional Medical Center where he's remained unresponsive since arriving.

On Wednesday evening, friends of Lawson's began posting comments about the man they described as a loving friend, father and sibling.

On a Facebook page entitled "In Memory of Scott Lawson," Lawson's brother Burl Lawson asks that people look beyond the recent tragedy.

"I hope everyone who knew him, will remember all the good things about him and not let his memory be reduced to one final act," Burl Lawson wrote.

No such memorials have been created for Shine.

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