By Sarah Nagem
snagem@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Police are trying to determine if a man suspected of killing two people here on Saturday was involved in a shooting in Charlotte early Monday morning.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer said a man that fired a gun at police Monday matched the description of Joaquin Alvarez Rios, Kannapolis Police Lt. Ken Jackson said.
Police think 35-year-old Rios killed a man and woman at his home at 702 W. 8th St. Saturday night. Authorities have not released the name of either victim.
However, Rios’ brother-in-law, Jose Hernandez, identified the female victim as Rios’ wife, 28-year-old Lorena Soto. Hernandez said he thinks Rios shot and killed Soto and the unidentified man out of jealousy.
Just after midnight on Monday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Andy Riddle exchanged gunfire with two men in a green four-door Honda, said Jean Wassenaar, a police spokeswoman.
Riddle was not injured, and the two men left the scene. The car was found wrecked near Exit 69 on Interstate 77 around 2 a.m. Monday. The men ran from the car, Wassenaar said.
“There was some early indication they could be related,” Jackson said of the two cases.
Jackson said Kannapolis police submitted evidence from the double-murder scene to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Police think one of the men in the Charlotte case might have been injured, Wassenaar said.
“Right now, it’s an ongoing investigation,” she said.
She said police have not confirmed a link between the two cases.