Two shootings early Sunday, just a few blocks apart in Sanford, left one person dead and another seriously injured, according to the Sanford Police Department.
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Police did not know if the two shootings were related.
Around 3:20 a.m., police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a shooting at Historic Goldsboro Boulevard and Mangoustine Avenue, the department said in a news release. Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered a victim with a gunshot wound and took the person to a nearby hospital, the department said. The condition of the victim was not available.
As police were responding to that incident, another 9-1-1 call alerted police to a second shooting nearby at Historic Goldsboro Boulevard and South Pomegranite Avenue — about .3 miles away from the first shooting, according to Google maps. Police officers found a man there dead from a gunshot wound. The man was identified as 32-year-old Deion Fields, the department said.
During their investigation, Sanford PD located a person of interest in the area with a firearm and transported that person a local area hospital for “mental health concerns,” the department said.
Police are working to determine whether or not the shootings are related. The investigation is still underway and police are piecing together the circumstances surrounding the shootings. Police did emphasize, however, that the shootings were isolated incidents and there is no ongoing threat or danger to the public.
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“Our investigators are still working diligently to understand what happened to cause one young man to lose his life and send another to the hospital,” said Chief Cecil Smith in a statement. “We need our community to stand together with us and say that gun violence, and crimes associated with it will not be tolerated.”
Investigators are asking anyone with additional information about this incident to contact the Sanford Police Department or Crimeline at 800 423-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimeline.org. Calls made to Crimeline remain anonymous.
“We believe there were witnesses who saw something,” Smith said in a statement. “We encourage them to come forward and work with us to take these violent individuals off our streets.”
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