Manhunt intensifies for suspect after 5 deaths in Missouri and Kansas

Dozens of police officers were searching rural farmland Tuesday for a man suspected of fatally shooting four people at his neighbor’s home in Kansas before killing another man about 170 miles away in a rural Missouri house not far from where his truck was found abandoned.

Two helicopters, police dogs and at least one SWAT team were involved in the search for 36-year-old Pablo Serrano, said Capt. John Hotz, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The patrol said Serrano should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AK-47.

The search area is mostly flat farmland near New Florence, Mo. Several schools in the area have been placed on lockdown, with officers stationed at the buildings.

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The search began late Monday when four men were shot at the home in Kansas City, Kan. One of the men managed to call police before he died, but it’s unclear how the men knew each other or what may have prompted the shooting, said Kansas City Police Officer Thomas Tomasic.

The focus shifted around 7 a.m. Tuesday, when a truck Serrano was believed to be driving was found along Interstate 70 in central Missouri. A 49-year-old man was found fatally shot in a rural home about five miles away, and a witness called 911 around 7:25 a.m. to report seeing a man running from the property, according to Highway Patrol Lt. Paul Reinsch.

Reinsch said there was no indication that Serrano had a vehicle.

None of the victims was immediately identified.

Neighbors who live near the small, yellow, one-story Kansas City home where the first four men were shot described the area as quiet. They said they hadn’t heard gunshots the night before.

Al VanBebber, a 54-year-old mechanic who lives a few blocks away, said he knew at least one of the home’s residents and described him as a “nice guy” whom he helped with car repairs and upgrades.

“It’s sick,” VanBebber said. “I don’t know how anybody could do that, with people as nice as could be.”

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