Attorney for Las Vegas road rage suspect questions events in shooting

The attorney for a man who is alleged to have gunned down his Las Vegas neighbor in a road rage incident has expressed doubts about a series of events that witnesses say occurred before the shooting.

Conrad Claus, the attorney for Erich Nowsch, 19, told ABC News that he was skeptical that road rage even occurred and questioned why the victim, Tammy Meyers, did not go to police after allegedly being threatened.

Nowsch was arraigned Monday on charges of murder and attempted, as well as discharging a firearm into a car. His next hearing is scheduled for March 10.

Police said Meyers, 44, a suburban mother of four had encountered a hostile Nowsch after taking her 15-year-old daughter for a driving lesson in a middle school parking lot. Law enforcement officials had initially said Meyers and her daughter, Kristal, had gone home after the incident and were calling for help when a sedan pulled up and someone inside opened fire. But police now say that Meyers, after returning home, appears to have gone out searching for Nowsch. She was joined by her 22-year-old son, Brandon, who armed himself with a 9-millimeter Beretta, authorities say.

According to police, she was later shot outside her home by Nowsch, who lives a few streets away from the Meyers family.

Phone calls and emails to Claus seeking additional comments were not immediately returned on Monday.

Claus told ABC News that he has serious questions about why the family did not initially tell police about Nowsch, who the Meyers family now says they knew very well.

Robert Meyers told reporters last week that the family had feared for their safety after the shooting, suggesting that’s why they had not told police earlier of their personal connection with Nowsch.

“I couldn’t tell you this before,” Robert Meyers added. “He knew where I lived. We knew how bad he was, but we didn’t know he was this bad.”

Staff Writer John M. Glionna contributed to this report.