SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Florida investigators say a double homicide uncovered during a wellness check is linked to a shooting hours later in a gated community on the other side of the state that left five other people dead, including the shooter.
The suspect was in a relationship with a victim in Fort Lauderdale who was linked to the victim in the second shooting in Sarasota, but detectives with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office did not release other details.
“The suspect’s motive for targeting the Sarasota victim is unknown,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
Fort Lauderdale is more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Sarasota, on the opposite side of Florida’s main peninsula.
Fort Lauderdale police responded to a call for a wellness check on Tuesday and found two people dead inside the home, Detective Kerri Hagerty said in an email Wednesday.
“The initial investigation indicates this is an isolated incident. Detectives do not believe there is any threat to the local public,” Hagerty said.
According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a 911 call and responded to a home in a gated community in the city. They found an injured man in the front yard who died a short time later. Inside the home, officers found two men and two women, including the suspect, dead.
Fort Lauderdale detectives contacted Sarasota County detectives who said they believe the cases are related and provided information on the suspect’s vehicle that was found near Sarasota.
Video footage collected from neighbors and the HOA showed the suspect’s vehicle entering the Sarasota neighborhood and gunshots rang out shortly after. More than half an hour later, video showed the man who was found injured in the front yard driving into the community, approaching the front door of the house and being shot, the Sheriff’s Office said.
No one else was seen approaching the home before deputies arrived, according to the Sheriff’s Office.