Durham police describe possible suspects in shootings

Police are looking for two young, black men who may have been traveling in a gold or light-colored van with an older man. They released surveillance images of the van.

The first suspect is described as tall and thin with a light complexion and a tattoo on his neck. He was wearing red shorts, a white shirt and a white do-rag. The second suspect had a darker complexion and cornrows, police said. He was wearing black shorts and a black shirt with some kind of logo on the front.

Larry Donnell Timberlake, 52, of East Point, Ga., died and Robert Terry, 30, of Durham, was shot in the arm Tuesday just before 10 p.m., police said. Both incidents happened in the southwest part of Durham off U.S. highways 15 and 501, Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard.

A third person, 17-year-old Torian Thonton, was found at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday by Durham County sheriff's deputies. He had a gunshot wound to the head and was sitting in a car at an Exxon on East Club Boulevard near Interstate 85. Friends took Thornton to a local hospital but he died Thursday.

Police said Wednesday they were looking into whether the shootings were connected.

“The victims do not know each other, to our knowledge. We are still trying to determine the circumstances of what happened,” said police spokeswoman Kammie Michael.