One night of bullets has left three people dead in three Rhode Island cities.

It happened in little more than two hours in separate shootings last night. Killed were two 17-year-old males -- one in Providence and one in Woonsocket -- and a 26-year-old woman in Pawtucket.

Mayra Cruz was identified as the Pawtucket victim in an afternoon news release from the Office of Medical Examiners stating she died from a gunshot wound to the head. The Pawtucket police said they are looking for Juan Diaz, 24, for whom they have an arrest warrant on a murder charge.

Sgt. Cory Jackson, the case's lead detective, said Diaz may have left the state.

In Woonsocket, a gunshot wound to the torso with injuries to aorta and liver caused the death of 17-year-old resident Brandon Smith, the Office of Medical Examiners said.

And in Providence, police said Virgilio Rojo, 17, of 470 Manton Ave., Providence, become the city's seventh homicide of the year.

No suspects or arrests have been reported by early evening in the Woonsocket and Providence shootings.

The timeline began at 9:45 p.m., when a report of a shooting came into the Pawtucket police, according to Sgt. Jackson.

When the Pawtucket police arrived at 14 Reservoir Ave., they found a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. She was declared dead at the scene, according to Jackson.

A gun has not been recovered, the police said, and suspect Diaz should be considered armed and dangerous. Police described Diaz as white, with brown hair, 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds, unshaven, and not wearing glasses. Diaz "was known to the victim," police said.

The police asked that any information be forwarded to the Pawtucket police criminal investigative division at 727-9100: Detective Michael Kane at ext. 759 or Detective Sgt. Jackson at ext. 722. If there is no answer, the police said to call 727-9100, ext. 712.

Jackson said police are proceeding on the theory that the shooting was a murder, although the police dispatch log indicates a 9-1-1 call from a distressed male at the site of the shooting that came in at 9:56 last night.

The caller reported he had accidentally shot his girlfriend in the face about two hours earlier during a struggle over a gun.

Building owner Jacinta Fernandes said that about 9:50 last night, while at a baseball game with her son, she got a call from neighbors telling her she might want to come home, because there were police cars all over the place.

When she returned to her house, Fernandes said, the body was in building's basement apartment and she wasn’t allowed in.

Fernandes said the man who lived there had been staying in the basement apartment since the end of March. Jackson confirmed later today that Diaz, the suspect the police are looking for, lived in the basement apartment Fernandes had referred to.

In Woonsocket at about 10 last night, the police went to 45 Robinson St. A 17-year-old male -- later identified as Brandeon Smith -- had been shot and taken to Landmark Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Chief Eric Croce.

Croce said police have not ruled out drugs as a motive for the shooting; no arrests have been made and police have no suspects.

This afternoon, Jason Horne, who said he lived in the first floor of the two-apartment house at 45 Robinson St., told a reporter that the teen had moved into the second floor apartment about six months ago to help the woman who lived there.

The woman refused to talk to a Journal reporter at the scene. No yellow crime scene tape was at the house, a two-story with wraparound porch, tan with burgundy shutters, and well kept. Police had also left the scene.

In Providence just before midnight last night, the police were alerted to an injured man at 124 Eastwood Ave., according to a statement released by Capt. Hugh Clements. When officers arrived, they found a “young man” with a gunshot wound in the street.

The victim was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and pronounced dead soon after his arrival, according to Clements.

Police identified him this afternoon as Rojo.

This afternoon, a small group of memorial candles had been put in place in front of a small church across the street from the house at 124 Eastwood.

-- projo.com staff writers Brandie M. Jefferson and Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writers W. Zachary Malinowski, John Castellucci and Mark Reynolds