Topeka — Police were investigating the shooting deaths of a man and two women found Tuesday at a house in an east Topeka neighborhood known for violence and drug activity.
Officers responded to the home after receiving a call around 2 p.m. alerting police to the bodies inside.
Sgt. Kris Kramer of the Topeka Police Department's Scientific Investigation Unit photographs a piece of evidence in the alley behind a Topeka house. Three murders were discovered Tuesday at the location.
Police spokesman Lt. John Sidwell said Tuesday night the victims were in their late 30s to early 40s and that investigators were trying to identify them.
"They have received gunshot wounds," Sidwell said.
"The neighbors have indicated it is a drug house," he added. "It appears it's not a random act. There were indications of criminal activity at the house."
He said police were trying to establish the approximate time of death, adding, "It doesn't appear that it occurred immediately before we got there."
"We want to be careful we don't hurt any evidence," Sidwell said.
The bodies were found near an area where shots were fired late Sunday night, killing an 18-year-old Topeka man and injuring another.
Emilio Esquibel was found dead in the front seat of his car, which had rolled to a stop in a yard.
Shortly after officers responded to that call, dispatchers reported that another shooting victim had shown up at a hospital with a non-life-threatening wound. The man told police he had been injured while walking near an intersection not far from where Esquibel was found.
The man said he had been hit as two cars drove by him in that area.
Police were investigating whether Tuesday's killings were related to Sunday night's incidents, Sidwell said.
Neighbors said they hadn't heard anything unusual recently.
Chris Van Sickle, who lives across the street from the scene Sunday's shooting, said crime was nothing new in the older neighborhood of rehabilitated homes.
"We thought it had calmed down. It's kind of freaking me out," she said of the recent activity. "It's getting kind of scary."
Even so, Van Sickle said she and her family had no plans to move, although they planned to spend Tuesday night at her mother's home in a rural area near Topeka.
"We've been through a lot more when we first moved here," said Van Sickle, who has lived in her home for 10 years.
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