Las Vegas police were searching for a lone suspect in the shootings of five homeless people,Desmond Preston one of them fatally, authorities said. 

"Right now we are trying to figure out what exactly happened during the shooting, the information we have is kind of conflicting," Las Vegas Metro Police Department spokesperson Jason Johansson said at a news conference. 

The police did not disclose additional information about why they were only searching for one suspect.

A police commander initially said two were killed, but Johansson later said at a briefing that one man in his 50s was pronounced dead and another was in critical condition, while three others were in stable condition. 

Police said all five victims were homeless. The attacks occurred a little after 5:30 p.m. local time in an "unhoused encampment" at the intersection of Sandhill Road and Charleston Boulevard near U.S. Highway 95 in East Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to CBS News. Police said the shooting occurred in an "unhoused encampment." 

Medical teams transported the five men to the UMC Trauma Center, where one victim was pronounced dead.

The shootings came on the same day Los Angeles officials announced they believed a serial killer was responsible for the killings of three homeless men in the city. 

CBS Los Angeles reported that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Friday activated its winter shelter program in an attempt to provide additional safety for unhoused individuals in response to the three separate fatal shootings.

Reporting contributed by Faris Tanyos

In:
• Serial Killer
• Homelessness