MOXEE, Wash. (AP) - The off-duty Las Vegas police officer killed in a shootout with intruders in his own garage grew up in Yakima where he graduated in 1997 from Davis High School.

Trevor Nettleton's father Richard Nettleton lives in nearby Moxee. The retired Washington State Patrol trooper told The Yakima Herald-Republic his son followed him into police work after spending nine years in the Marines.

Richard Nettleton says he liked the residential area near Las Vegas where his son lived and thought it would be secure for the family with two young children.

Police say it was apparently an attempted robbery early Thursday that resulted in the shooting. Three suspects have been arrested.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of killing Nettleton in a shootout in his garage, North Las Vegas police said Thursday.

Police said that Prentice Marshall, 18, and Saul Williams Jr., 20, of North Las Vegas were in custody, suspected of killing Trevor Nettleton just after midnight. A 17-year-old male was arrested later on the same charges.

Nettleton, 30, was married with two young children and had been with Las Vegas police three years, police said.

Authorities said they think the shootout resulted from a botched robbery attempt, but a Las Vegas police spokeswoman said they planned to treat the slaying as a line-of-duty death.

"His death is considered to be in the line of duty, since he pulled his weapon," Officer Barbara Morgan said.

Williams was booked in a North Las Vegas jail on multiple charges, including murder with a deadly weapon, authorities said. Marshall was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and will be booked in jail once he is released from the hospital, North Las Vegas police said. The 17-year-old male, who name was not released because he's a minor, was booked on the same charges and held at the juvenile detention center, police said.

North Las Vegas police Officer Chrissie Coon said the apparent robbery attempt happened after midnight at Nettleton's home.

"He was standing in the garage with the garage door open when he was attacked by multiple suspects," Coon said. "It looks like it was an attempted robbery. There was an exchange of gunfire."

Clark County Undersheriff Rod Jett told reporters the slaying appeared to be a random act.

The officer's body was borne from the home in North Las Vegas to the Clark County coroner's office in Las Vegas with a procession of police cars and motorcycles.

Coon said the officer was wearing civilian clothes after arriving home from work. She said she didn't know how many shots were fired.

Morgan said the man's family was in the house during the shooting, including his mother who was visiting for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Police said plans were being made for a funeral with full departmental honors - the third this year for a dead Las Vegas police officer.