Two men were shot about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue in Cape Girardeau, police said.

One of the victims was taken by a civilian vehicle to a hospital, and the second victim was taken to a hospital by Cape County Private Ambulance, Sgt. Adam Glueck, a Cape Girardeau Police public information officer, said at the shooting scene.

One neighbor who declined to give her name said a white Chevrolet Impala sped away with one of the victims. A police scanner report said one victim was shot in the shoulder.

Glueck did not describe the status of the victims or give details about how many times the victims were shot or where they were shot.

A male witness who was not willing to give his name said the victim taken away by ambulance was shot in the chest.

Officers with the Cape Girardeau Police Department search for evidence after a shooting on the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue on Wednesday evening.Laura Simon

Latanya Harris, who said she is the victim's neighbor, guessed the victim's age at 40.

The male witness said two white men started an argument with the two victims. The white men pulled handguns and started shooting, he said.

Residents of the area said police officers had a white man in handcuffs at the scene.

Glueck said police were talking with people at the scene, but police had not arrested anyone.

Several area residents said 12 or more shots were fired. Glueck said a vehicle and several houses in the block were struck by gunfire.

An officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department stands watch at the corner of South Benton Street and Jefferson Avenue after a shooting near the intersection Wednesday evening.Laura Simon

Investigators placed 11 orange cones in the middle of the street in front of 1005 Jefferson Ave. to mark evidence.

"I live on Jefferson; people say Jefferson is bad," Harris said. "The people (who are doing the shooting) don't even live over here. ... There's a bunch of kids on this block."

Harris lives about a block east from the shooting, and she remarked the intersection of Benton Street and Jefferson Avenue is poorly lighted.

One of her neighbors, who wished to go unnamed, said she has lived on Benton Street for several years, but these type of shooting incidents have become more common in the last four years.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 1005 Jefferson Avenue, Cape Girardeau, MO