Two fatal shootings within minutes of each other in Durham on Saturday morning may be related, and a suspect was arrested, police said.
At 11:12 a.m., police found a woman with gunshot wounds in a vehicle in the northbound right turn lane on Southwest Durham Drive, near the intersection with Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, according to a police department news release.
The woman was later pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
Eight minutes later, an off-duty Durham Police officer heard gunshots in the parking lot of a business in the 3700 block of Mount Moriah Road and found a man with a gunshot wound.
The man also died at a hospital, police said.
The shootings “appear to be related … and an isolated incident,” according to the police statement.
A suspect who was taken into custody is believed to have known at least one of the victims, police said.
At 3:30 p.m., police hadn’t released the names of the suspect or the man and woman who were killed. Police also didn’t say if they know what prompted the shootings.
Police urged anyone with information about the shootings to call Investigator L. Sprinkle at 919-560-4440, extension 29248, or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 919-683-1200.
Durham Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to arrests in felony cases.
More people shot in Durham this year
After trailing last year’s data for most of 2024, more people have now been shot in Durham so far this year than as of the same time last year, The News & Observer reported.
As of May 4, the latest statistics available, at least 66 people were shot this year, up from 64 by the same time in 2023, according to the Police Department. Those numbers were both down from 2022, however, when 87 people had been shot by the same time of the year.
