Alexandria , Virginia ( CNN ) -- The shooting death of a music teacher last week has investigators asking whether the crime is connected to two other unsolved killings in Alexandria , Virginia . Ruthanne Lodato , 59 , was shot to death when she answered a knock on her front door Thursday morning . Her elderly mother 's caretaker was wounded , but survived , police said . `` This is a very stable community of people who know one another , and crime of this sort is unfathomable , '' neighbor Barry Mudd said . The crime scene is in a quiet residential neighborhood , just a mile from the home where Ronald Kirby , a prominent transportation official , was shot and killed in November . The 69-year-old man 's slaying is still unsolved . Detectives , including from the FBI and Alexandria Police Department , are looking for possible connections between the Ladato and Kirby killings , as well as to the unsolved shooting death of Nancy Dunning , the wife of a former sheriff , just two miles away in 2003 , police said . Although the crimes are spread over a decade , they share similarities . They happened within two miles of each other in the Washington suburb . All three victims were gunned down in their homes with no signs of a forced entry . `` You ca n't help but think that , but hopefully it 's not multiple people , '' Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille said . Police released a sketch of a man they suspect might be Lodato 's killer , hoping to generate tips from the community . `` Do n't be afraid to call it in , because you just never know , '' Euille said at a news conference . Remains ID 'd as missing Virginia police captain .
Nancy Lodato was shot to death when she heard a knock on her front door . Her house is a mile from where Ronald Kirby was shot to death in November . Nancy Dunning 's last unsolved shooting death was just two miles away . Police release a sketch of a man they suspect might be Lodato 's attacker .