The Guernsey County Sheriff's Office is searching for a person of interest in a double homicide Sunday after receiving 911 calls of shots fired in the Cambridge area.

Deputies arrived at Coventry Estates apartment complex on Coventry Drive at 2:45 a.m.

Officials identified the victims as 31-year-old Christopher Morrison and 25-year-old Justain Nelson, both of Cambridge.

The Stark County Coroner's Office said a preliminary autopsy report showed both men died as a result of the loss of blood from the gunshot wounds.

Officials said one of the victims was found dead in the front yard of the apartment, and the other was lying in the back yard with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Southeast Ohio Regional Medical Center, where he later died, Detective Sgt. Sam Williams said.

It was an emotional scene for family members and friends of the two victims who arrived at the scene in the afternoon. Residents who live near Coventry Estates said they are shocked to hear about the homicide. Three of the four apartments were occupied, and all residents were evacuated following to investigation, deputies said.

"Some of the neighbors thought they heard fireworks, and that type of thing going on," said Pam Hall, who lives up the street from the crime scene. "I thought I had heard sirens in the night, but I wasn't sure."

The sheriff's office along with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation collected evidence from the crime scene, Williams said.

This is the first double homicide the county has investigated since the late 1980s, according to Williams. Hall said it's "just frightening to think this would happen in our neighborhood, in our community." Other neighbors said they feel the same way.

"I live right down the road, maybe 200 yards from the crime scene here. I feel now that I need to go out and probably buy a rottweiler and some handguns to protect my kids," said Joel Kocher.

Williams said they located Nijier Thomas in Zanesville, the renter of the apartment where the crime happened and girlfriend of one victim.

"We plan on talking to her, see what information she can provide to us, to see if she was here at the time of the incident or not," said Williams.

NEWS9 talked to the mother of one victim who said she wants the area violence to stop.

Stay with NEWS9, WTOV9.com and WTOV9 Mobile for continuing coverage as details become available.