The Overland Park Police Department confirmed Tuesday morning that investigators are looking into possible connections between two deadly shootings that have occurred on the same street over the past week.
A shooting last night on 61st Terrace left a woman in her 30s dead and an 11-year old girl with non-life threatening injuries. Witnesses reported seeing a man repeatedly shoot a semiautomatic rifle into a duplex. Nine people were inside the duplex at the time of the shooting.
According to police, the man got away in a gray Grand Prix driven by another suspect. Here is the department's description of the shooter, via Twitter:
Suspect is a light skinned black or Hispanic male seen getting into a gray Pontiac Grand Prix. Shot multiple rounds from rifle into duplex
— Overland Park Police (@OverlandPark_PD) July 7, 2015
This latest shooting comes just days after another shooting on 61st Terrace left two men dead. The victims in that incident, which occurred July 1, were 18-year-old Velik Henderson and 19-year old Trevon Anderson.
Though violent crime is not unprecedented in Overland Park, this recent spate of homicides is unusual when put next to recent statistics. The city’s data shows Overland Park has averaged about two homicides a year since 2010.