Two men were shot and killed early Thursday near a shopping center in Gary, Indiana.

Around 3:45 a.m., Gary police officers heard multiple gunshots near 35th Avenue and Grant Street, near the Village Shopping Center.

Two people later flagged them down while standing next to an SUV in the shopping center parking lot, and officers found two men inside the SUV who had been shot multiple times. 

The victims – 37-year-old Dante Givens, and 36-year-old Deon Stewart, both of Chicago – were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Lake County Coroner's office.

Police believe the victims were shot near the intersection of 37th Avenue and Grant Street before driving to the shopping center parking lot.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit at 219-755-3855 or leave an anonymous tip through Gary's text-to-tip line at 219-207-8477.