Police later clarified that 14-year-old Aven Drummond had been shot before officers entered the Pigeon Point Court home.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The emergency unfolded in fragments over a 911 line: a woman said her boyfriend was pursuing her with a blowtorch, then reported she had been shot, then warned that her teenage daughter remained elsewhere inside the Las Vegas home as fires were being set around them.
What followed on Aug. 10 became a deadly confrontation involving a wounded mother, her fatally shot daughter, an armed man behind a locked bedroom door and a police officer struck by gunfire. Weeks later, the toll increased again. The caller, 47-year-old Nichole Drummond, died from injuries suffered in the attack, and the Clark County coroner ruled her death a homicide. Her daughter, Aven Drummond, was also killed. Police identified Drummond’s boyfriend, 48-year-old Jason Simmons, as the man responsible for burning and shooting Nichole Drummond before firing at officers. Simmons died at the scene from what authorities determined was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The sequence began at approximately 12:29 a.m., when Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department communications received a call from the home in the 4500 block of Pigeon Point Court. Police initially categorized it as an unknown-trouble call. Nichole Drummond told dispatchers that Simmons was armed with a blowtorch and was trying to burn her. The original Law&Crime report quoted her telling dispatchers, “He’s about to burn me up!” Police said the situation escalated while officers were still traveling to the address: Drummond reported that she had been shot and was hiding in a bathroom.
There was another person officers knew they had to find. Drummond told dispatchers that her teenage daughter was in a separate bedroom. Police said Simmons was also attempting to ignite the residence using gasoline and the blowtorch. By the time officers arrived, several small fires were burning and smoke was filling the home. Rather than remain outside while victims were believed to be inside with an armed attacker, officers formed what the department described as an action team and entered the residence.
Inside, they found the teenage girl in a front bedroom with an apparent gunshot wound. The initial public accounts left uncertainty about exactly when she had been shot in relation to the officers’ arrival and later exchange of gunfire. Police subsequently clarified that Aven had been shot before officers entered the house. That distinction became important because the incident included police gunfire as officers moved through the residence. The clarification established that the teen’s shooting preceded the officer-involved confrontation deeper inside the home.
The officers continued searching for Simmons amid the smoke and fires and reached a locked master bedroom. Officer Zaira Venegas-Hernandez tried to force the door, police said. Simmons fired several rounds from the other side. One struck Venegas-Hernandez in the upper chest area. Her ballistic vest stopped the round from passing completely through, but the impact injured her. She returned fire, and officers moved away from the room and ultimately out of the residence. The department then declared the incident a barricade and called for SWAT officers and crisis negotiators.
That withdrawal did not end Nichole Drummond’s connection with dispatchers. Police said she was still on the phone and later told authorities that Simmons had shot himself. She eventually exited the home and was transported for treatment of a gunshot wound and burn injuries. Officials initially described her condition as critical. Venegas-Hernandez was also taken to University Medical Center for treatment after being struck in her protective vest. The officer survived the shooting.
SWAT officers later entered the house. Police said they removed Aven so medical personnel could attempt to save her, but she was pronounced dead. Simmons was found unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound to his head. Coroner records later identified him as Jason Alan Simmons, 48, and determined that he died by suicide. Investigators also documented weapons and the blowtorch associated with the confrontation. Because Simmons was dead, authorities did not file a criminal case against him.
Aven’s identity brought another dimension to an incident first described publicly in the language of an officer-involved shooting. Family members told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she was 14, a sophomore, a volleyball player and an active student. Her 15th birthday was only days away. Her sister, Nevaeh Thomas, described her as deeply important to her family and said she had been preparing to celebrate her birthday. The family’s public comments shifted attention toward the teenager whose life had ended before police ever crossed the threshold of the home.
At that stage, Nichole Drummond was still hospitalized. The family was confronting Aven’s death while hoping her mother would recover from the shooting and burns. That outcome did not come. Drummond later died, and police announced that the coroner attributed her death to the consequences of thermal injuries. A gunshot wound was also identified as a significant injury in local reporting based on coroner information. The coroner classified the manner of death as homicide, and the Metropolitan Police Department said Simmons had burned and shot Drummond before the police exchange of gunfire.
The later death means the case can no longer be understood only as a standoff that killed a teenager and the barricaded man. Two members of the same family died as a result of the violence. An officer was wounded, the home was damaged by intentionally set fires, and the person police identified as the attacker died before he could be arrested or prosecuted. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive explaining why the violence began. With Simmons dead, there will be no criminal trial to establish a fuller account through testimony and contested evidence.
Police officials said after the incident that, had Simmons survived, investigators expected him to face allegations including murder, attempted murder, arson, kidnapping, mayhem and unlawful firearm possession. Those potential charges were never filed and should not be treated as criminal convictions. They instead reflect the offenses police said they believed the evidence supported during their investigation. The subsequent death of Nichole Drummond and homicide ruling came after those initial statements and added another death to the official record.
The family told the Review-Journal that there had not been obvious warning signs before the attack, and police said there were no previous calls for service to the residence. That absence does not establish that no prior problems occurred; it means the department had no earlier service calls at that address, according to officials. Police have not released a public finding that explains what prompted Simmons’ actions on Aug. 10. The documented account therefore remains focused on what Drummond reported to dispatchers and what officers encountered once they reached the house.
The police response itself is undergoing a separate review. The department classified the confrontation as its 10th officer-involved shooting of 2026 and said its Critical Incident Review Team would examine policy, tactics and training. The department’s public use-of-force records continued to list its Force Investigation Team report and the district attorney’s decision letter as pending. Those processes are intended to examine the officers’ use of deadly force and do not change the department’s separate findings concerning the attacks on Nichole and Aven Drummond.
Nearly seven weeks after the first 911 call, some of the most consequential facts are clearer than they were that morning. Police say Aven was shot before officers entered. The coroner determined Simmons died by suicide. Nichole Drummond later died, and her death was ruled a homicide. What has not been publicly established is why the violence began. The pending police and prosecutorial reviews of the officer-involved shooting remain among the unresolved official parts of the case.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 28, 2026.