Cape police, major case squad investigate two shooting deaths at apartment complex

Cape Girardeau police and the area's major case squad are investigating two deaths following a shooting Wednesday morning at Cape Meadows apartments.

The second death was discovered while police were investigating the first shooting, according to police public information officer Sgt. Rick Schmidt.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, the names of the victims had not been released.

Police received a call at 10:28 a.m. that a man had been shot in the back near 507 Cape Meadows Circle, Schmidt said.

"We got here and couldn't find a victim" he told reporters at the scene while officers knocked on doors of neighboring apartments in an effort to find witnesses to the shooting.

Police learned the man had been taken by private ambulance to Southeast Hospital. He was dead by the time police arrived at the hospital, Schmidt said. He added that he did not know if the man died en route to the hospital.

One woman, who was in a residence across from the apartment complex, said she heard "a pop" about the time of the shooting. The woman, who would not give her name, said she did not witness the incident.

As police were investigating the initial shooting at Cape Meadows Circle, a second shooting victim was discovered inside another apartment unit in the neighborhood, Schmidt said.

A gun was recovered in a grassy area between the 507 and 516 apartment buildings he said.

An individual was handcuffed and transported from the scene in a police car, said Schmidt. As of midafternoon Wednesday, police had not named the person as a suspect or even as a person of interest.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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