Manhunt underway after 2 shot, 1 dead in Santa Rosa home invasion robberies

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- Three suspects are in police custody and two others are on the loose after a series of crimes that began with a pair of home invasions and a homicide in Santa Rosa -- and ended in a chase through Vallejo.

The crime spree began just before five this morning when invaders forced their way into a home on Fulton Road, and shot and wounded one man.

Less than two hours later, they struck again. Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Spencer Crum said,"At 6:45 there was another home invasion robbery in a different part of town - people were tied up and a man was shot and killed."

The second attack took place at a home on Melcon Lane.

VIDEO: Manhunt underway in Vallejo after police chase, one killed in Sonoma County home invasion robberies

Officials said two people were shot and one of them died during two home invasion robberies that appear related in unincorporated Sonoma County outside Santa Rosa this morning.

The shooters left before police arrived, but a detective picked up their trail later in the morning in Vallejo and tried to pull over their Chevy minivan. A chase ended with the suspects crashing into another car near Redwood and Couch Streets. According to Crum, "Five people fled the van. we took three into custody."

One of them was wrestled to the ground behind Linda Bracciotti's floral shop, while she was inside. She told ABC-7 News, "One of them ended up at my back door, on the ground with a cop pinning him down."

Two of the suspects - a man and woman - ran into a subdivision off Redwood Street. A perimeter was set up and swat officers from two different agencies went door-to-door in a three square block area but could not find the suspects."

So police called off their active search just after two this afternoon. But there are other leads to work, like tracing the firearms recovered with the van. According to Sgt. Crum, detectives are also looking into one potential motive for the original home invasions --" we do know that one of the homes had some evidence of marijuana growing, so it's going to take a little more time to investigate what happened"

In the meantime, the two suspects who are still on the run are to be considered armed and dangerous and anyone with information is asked to contact their local police.