SARASOTA, FL — A fatal shooting that left four dead, including the suspect, at a Sarasota home is linked to a recent double homicide in Fort Lauderdale, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
A 911 caller reported that a man had been shot at a home in the gated neighborhood of Amberlea, near Proctor and McIntosh roads, around 12:30 p.m.
Deputies got to the Fallcrest Circle home minutes later and found the victim in the front yard with neighbors actively performing CPR on him, the sheriff’s office said. The neighbors told deputies that the man’s wife might be inside the home.
Deputies were able to move the man to another location, where the Sarasota County Fire Department took over his care. He was pronounced dead shortly after this.
Fearing for the safety of the man’s wife, deputies went into the home and found four additional victims — two men and two women, the sheriff’s office said.
The victims’ names are not currently being released as detectives try to contact their next of kin.
While working to identify the victims and potential suspect, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department contacted SCSO, telling detectives that the department was investigating a double homicide that might be connected to the Sarasota shooting.
Fort Lauderdale police gave deputies information about the suspect’s vehicle and said that after the South Florida homicide, the vehicle was seen on camera traveling north through Punta Gorda ahead of the Sarasota shooting.
Sarasota County detectives worked with Amberlea homeowners association representatives and neighbors, and were able to recover video footage of the suspect’s vehicle entering the neighborhood at 11:01 a.m.
The sound of gunfire was captured shortly after on a neighbor’s Ring camera, the sheriff’s office said.
About 37 minutes later, the male victim found on the front lawn was seen on video entering the neighborhood in his vehicle. He was also seen approaching the front door, where he was shot, investigators said.
Nobody was seen entering or leaving the home after this until deputies arrived.
All victims have been identified and the suspect was among those dead inside the home, the sheriff’s office said. The suspect’s vehicle is also parked in the neighborhood.
Based on preliminary information, the suspect had been in a previous romantic relationship with one of the victims in Fort Lauderdale, detectives said. That victim was connected to the victims in Sarasota.