A Florida detective said investigators connected two deadly scenes by tracing a suspect and evidence between Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota, a drive of more than 200 miles across the state. Investigators said the first incident surfaced during a well-being check, and hours later the suspect was tied to a separate shooting in Sarasota that killed five more people.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office detectives said a 911 call led deputies to a home in a gated community in Sarasota, where they found a wounded man in the front yard who died shortly afterward. Inside the house, deputies found two men and two women dead, including the suspect, the sheriff’s office said.
Earlier, in Fort Lauderdale, the city’s police department received a call Tuesday requesting a well-being check. Detective Kerri Hagerty said in an email Wednesday that officers arrived and found two people dead inside a home.
Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota detectives then exchanged information, the sheriff’s office said. Sarasota investigators were contacted by detectives in Fort Lauderdale who said they believed the cases were linked and who provided information about the suspect’s vehicle, which was later found in the Sarasota neighborhood.
The sheriff’s office said video footage gathered from neighbors and the homeowner association showed the suspect’s vehicle entering the Sarasota neighborhood, followed by the sound of gunfire a short time later. More than a half hour afterward, the sheriff’s office said video showed the man found wounded in the front yard driving into the neighborhood, approaching the front door, and then being shot.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office said it released few other details about the connection between the two scenes, including the relationship between the victims and the suspect. The office said the suspect had a romantic relationship with one of the Fort Lauderdale victims and that the Fort Lauderdale victim was connected to the victims in the Sarasota shooting.
“The suspect’s motivation for targeting the Sarasota victims is unknown,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Wednesday. Hagerty, meanwhile, said Fort Lauderdale detectives initially concluded the Fort Lauderdale incident appeared isolated and that detectives did not believe there was any threat to the local public.
No other people were seen approaching the Sarasota home before deputies arrived, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators have not said what charges, if any, have been filed in either location.