HENDERSON, Nev. -- The woman who police said was shot to death in her Henderson home by her ex-husband was at home with one of her two children when she was killed.
The woman was identified as dentist Renee Bassett. Her employees declined to comment on her death.
Officers responded to Bassett's home about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, only to discover their jurisdiction's first slaying of the year inside.
Henderson Police spokesman Keith Paul said Bassett's ex-husband knocked on the door, went inside and the two started to argue.
"At some point in time, he pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, striking and killing her," Paul said.
Her ex- husband then went out into a car and shot himself to death.
Paul said their 13-year-old son was inside the house and was the one to call for help.
"The boy is the one who called 911 after the shots rang out," he said.
Paul said it is not yet known whether there was a history of reported abuse in her home.
Marriage and family therapist Claudia Schwarz said the dentist's children will be affected by their mother's violent death for the rest of their lives.
"It is life-changing for a child," she said.
Schwarz counsels families dealing with traumatic events.
"Usually there's a sense of guilt," she said. "If a child witnessed anything, or felt like they could have stopped something."
She said children often feel ashamed and isolated after witnessing something so horrific -- especially involving their parents:
"This isn't something that happens on a regular basis, so they don't really have regular people to talk to who can help them," Schwarz said.
Lisa Lynn Chapman of Safe Nest, a domestic violence service agency, said the organization sees children of violence suffer long-term problems as a result of what happens at home.
"You learn your family roles," she said.
Chapman said the children sometimes become future victims, but others can turn into abusers themselves.
"You can learn that, if I don't want to be victimized, this is what I have to do," she said.
The domestic violence experts said the best thing a concerned friend or family member can do is listen and offer help by connecting the child in need to a social worker.
In this case, both children have been placed with relatives as investigators continue to look into what happened.
The Clark County Coroner's Office has not yet released the name of the shooter.
Renee Bassett
