Two people were found dead inside a home in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday and investigators believe it may be linked to a shooting in Sarasota that left five other people dead, officials said.
Officers had received a call around 1:30 p.m. for a well-being check at the home in the 500 block of Northeast 15th Avenue in the Victoria Park neighborhood, Fort Lauderdale Police officials said.
When the officers arrived, they found the two adults dead inside the home.
Police haven’t released their identities or said how they died but said homicide detectives are investigating.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that this is an isolated incident; detectives do not believe there is any threat to the local public,” the department said in a statement.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office officials said the deaths may be linked to a shooting there that left five people dead on Tuesday.
Deputies had responded to a report of a shooting at a home in the Amberlea neighborhood around 12:25 p.m. and found a man shot in a front yard. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Fearing for the safety of the man’s wife, deputies entered the home and found four adults, including two women and two men, dead inside.
The suspect was among the four people found dead inside the home, officials said.
While Sarasota detectives investigated, they received information from Fort Lauderdale Police that the Sarasota shooting may be related to a double homicide in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale Police gave Sarasota investigators information about a vehicle possibly involved that was caught on camera going northbound through Punta Gorda before the Sarasota shooting, officials said.
Sarasota detectives found surveillance video that showed the vehicle entering the neighborhood shortly before a neighbor’s Ring camera captured the sound of gunfire, officials said.
The man found shot in the front yard was also seen entering the neighborhood and approaching the front door where he was shot.
No one else was seen entering or leaving the home until authorities arrived.
The identities of the victims and suspect in the Sarasota shooting haven’t been released but the sheriff’s office said the suspect had been in a previous romantic relationship with one of the victims in Fort Lauderdale, who was connected to the Sarasota victims.
The suspect’s motivation for targeting the Sarasota victims was unknown, the sheriff’s office said.
Fort Lauderdale Police said they’re collaborating with Sarasota investigators regarding the potential connection between the two incidents.
Investigations were ongoing.