Red Cross doctor John Lunetta kills girlfriend, baby son and pet dog in Las Vegas

Dr John Lunetta, 40, killed son John Jr, pictured, his girlfriend and the pet dog. Photo / Facebook

The medical director for the American Red Cross killed his girlfriend, their baby boy and the pet dog before turning the gun on himself, police say.

The family was identified as John Henry Lunetta, 40, Karen Jackson, 35, and their baby John Jr, who was set to celebrate his first birthday today.

Neighbours were stunned over the killings, saying they never though Lunetta was capable of something like this.

Karen, pictured with her son John, just recently qualified as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Photo / Facebook

"It was very shocking to hear," neighbour Michael Bernardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I know he loved his baby. I know he loved his dog."

His wife, Denise Bernardo, said she would have laughed if someone said a month earlier that Lunetta was capable of killing his family.

"This is deranged. He must have snapped," she said.

However, Jackson's 10-year-old daughter said Lunetta was controlling and that they argued a lot. She was not at the home during the killings and is now staying with other family.

John Lunetta with his son John Jr after he was born. Photo / Facebook

Lunetta was a doctor who worked as a Red Cross medical director for the Nevada region with a focus on blood services.

Jackson had just passed a certification test to become a family nurse. Her car was reportedly found with a stack of nursing textbooks in the back seat next to a baby's car seat.

Neighbours said they never saw her between her job and her nursing classes.

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