Authorities searching for man suspected in 5 fatal shootings
By JIM SUHR, Associated Press
Mar 8, 2016 3:54 PM CST
This undated photo provided by the Kansas City, Kan. Police Department on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 shows Pablo Serrano. Serrano is 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...   (Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Dozens of officers searched farmland in central Missouri on Tuesday for a man suspected of killing a man at a nearby house just hours after fatally shooting four people at his neighbor's home about 170 miles away in Kansas.

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

Several schools in the area were placed on lockdown, with officers stationed at the buildings.

The search began late Monday when four men were shot at the home in Kansas City, Kansas. 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, Kansas City Police Officer Thomas Tomasic said.

The manhunt shifted when a truck Serrano was believed to be driving was found abandoned along Interstate 70 in central Missouri around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

About 25 minutes later, sheriff's deputies responded to a shooting at a rural home about five miles away — and found the body of 49-year-old Randy J. Nordman, who lived at the Montgomery County property, according to the patrol. A witness who called 911 reported seeing a man running from the property, said Highway Patrol Lt. Paul Reinsch.

Reinsch said investigators weren't aware of any connection between Nordman and Serrano, and that there was no indication Serrano had a vehicle.

The owner of the Kansas City home where the four men were shot said he received a call from a tenant Monday night about a person lying on the porch as if he were dead. Steve Manthe said that when he was allowed into the home after 6 a.m. Tuesday, he saw blood on the living room couch and around the room. He said the television was still on.

"It looked like he just stepped in the door and blew them away," he said.

His family spent part of Tuesday morning scrubbing blood off the front porch with bleach. Manthe, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, said he wasn't aware of any tension between the victims and neighbors.

The names the four victims haven't been released.

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 gun shots 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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Associated Press reporter Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.