Sketch of Alexandria Shooting Suspect Released

Police have released a composite sketch of the suspect wanted for killing one woman and shooting another in Alexandria, Va., Thursday. 

The suspect knocked on 59-year-old Ruthanne Lodato's door in the 2400 block of Ridge Road Drive just after 11:30 a.m. Thursday and opened fire. Lodato and another woman were shot.

Lodato was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead. The surviving woman, who worked as a caregiver for Lodato's elderly mother, was shot in the arm and hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Lodato's mother was also inside the home during the shooting, but was not injured. 

The suspect is described as an older, balding man with gray hair and a beard. Police say he was wearing tan outerwear at the time of the shooting, possibly a jacket or a work coat.
 
If any of the man's features look familiar to you, you're asked to call police at 703-746-6864. 
 
Lodato's friends and family continue to mourn her death. She worked as a music teacher in Northern Virginia for two decades and played the organ at a Del Ray-area church.

Neighbor Eileen Grant said, "She was just a really nice, sweet woman, just nice. It's just so sad."

The manner of her death is strikingly similar to the deaths of a well-known regional transportation official and the wife of a former Alexandria sheriff.

Last November, 69-year-old Ronald Kirby was fatally shot inside his home, less than a mile from the house where Lodato was killed.

No arrest has been made, and police have said there were no signs of forced entry.

Kirby was the director of the department of transportation planning for the Council of Governments, an interstate association that helps counties around D.C. with development, growth and transportation planning.

"It's unbelievable. It's so wrong to do this kind of thing," Kirby's widow Anne Haynes told News4 the day after Lodato's death. 

In 2003, real estate agent and wife of Sheriff Jim Dunning, Nancy Dunning was gunned down inside her Del Ray home. No arrests have been made in her death.

Aleaxndria Mayor Bill Euille said there is no evidence to support the idea that the three killing are related, but said people are concerned.

"Certainly, residents have a right to be concerned, but I don't want to characterize it that there's a serial killer floating around the city," Euille said. "We just don't know enough information and facts and data to support that."

While the investigation into Lodato's death continues, police have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood.

Stay with NBCWashington.com and News4 for the latest on this developing story.

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