SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield police were in a standoff all Friday evening that they may be connected to a murder and stabbing on Friday afternoon. Police surrounded a house in west Springfield right behind the new Walmart Neighborhood Market near South Suburban Avenue at West Watkins Street. They were at that home from before 6 p.m. until well into the night.
The homicide occurred a few blocks southwest of Evangel University on Friday afternoon. Police say a man was shot to death and a woman was hospitalized with a stab wound.
Police say the the man and the woman went to a home on Brower Street just east of Rogers Avenue about 3:30. When they walked into the home, police believe, a man in the home shot the visiting man and a woman in the home stabbed the visiting woman.
Police say the visitors were acquainted with the people in the home. They haven't said if any other people were involved besides those four. The shooter fled.
Emergency call-takers got information about the injuries about 3:40 p.m. Someone first put the injured woman in a pickup to take her to a hospital, but then an ambulance arrived, and EMTs took her to a hospital.
Cpl. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the police department, said officers have a good idea of a person for whom they are looking, and don't think this is a random crime, so they don't think others in the neighborhood are in danger.
This is the 14th homicide of the year in Springfield. Before this year, the most homicides in one year in the city was 12.
