The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati homicide detectives investigated two killings in less than two hours Thursday.

The unrelated shootings, in Madisonville and the West End, left two men dead - Stacey Gray, 18, and RaeMone Williams, 31, of the West End. No one had been arrested as of late Thursday.

The victims were the 20th and 21st killed in the city this year. That's a 25 percent decrease over the 28 killed by this time in 2003, which ended with 75 homicides, a 26-year high..

The first shooting, just after 12:30 a.m. on Tompkins Avenue in Madisonville, happened when a vehicle drove by Gray and at least one person inside opened fire, police said. Gray was taken to University Hospital, where he later died.

Officers working off-duty inside the Parktown Cafe heard the second shooting, about 2:20 a.m. at Findlay and Linn streets. They ran outside and found Williams with a gunshot wound. He also died later at University Hospital.