A 59-year-old music teacher was gunned down opening the door of her Alexandria home Thursday.
According to police, an older man with gray hair and a beard knocked on the door of a home in the 2400 block of Ridge Road Drive just after 11:30 a.m. and opened fire when two women opened the door.
Ruthanne Lodato, 59, was hospitalized in critical condition and later pronounced dead. She lived at the home, according to police. Another woman, around the same age, was shot in the arm and hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
Police say she worked as a caretaker at the home for Lodato's elderly mother, who was also inside the home during the shooting but was not injured.
According to her online resume, Lodato worked as a music teacher and organ player in Northern Virginia for decades.
The gunman remains on the loose. Police said they have not determined a motive for the shooting, and have added patrols in the neighborhood.
The shooting occurred in a low-crime neighborhood of Alexandria, though several months ago, 69-year-old Ronald Kirby was gunned down inside his home. No arrest has been made, and police have said there were no signs of forced entry.
Kirby was the director of the department of transportation planning for the Council of Governments, an interstate association that helps counties around D.C. with development, growth and transportation planning.
In 2003, real estate agent and wife of Sheriff Jim Dunning, Nancy Dunning was gunned down inside her Del Ray home. No arrests have been made in her death.
Stay with NBCWashington.com and News4 for the latest on this developing story.