ATLANTA (REUTERS) – Police arrested a female suspect at Atlanta’s international airport on Monday (Aug 22), ending an hours-long search after shootings in the city centre that left two dead and a third wounded.

The Atlanta Police Department said it was trying to determine whether the victims were targeted by the suspect or shot at randomly.

Responding to a report of a shooting at around 1.45pm (1745 GMT), police found two people at an upscale condominium building near Colony Square, an office and shopping complex in Atlanta’s Midtown area. One of them died while the other was taken to a hospital, police said.

While at the first location, officers received another call about a shooting less than a mile to the southeast at a high-rise office building, where police found the third victim.

That person also appeared to have been shot and later died at a hospital, police said.

Officers were investigating the connection between the two locations. Initial information indicated that a female suspect was responsible for both incidents, police said.

TaQuanda Alexander, 35, a cook who just moved to Atlanta, was at Colony Square hoping to fill out some job applications at some of the restaurants when she heard the police sirens.

“The policemen came and told all to get inside,” she said.

“There were sirens and a helicopter and all that. We were shaking. All we heard was that people got shot.”

Before the suspect was located at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and taken into custody, police blocked off multiple blocks in Midtown, and people in some buildings were directed to shelter in place.