An elderly man and woman apparently returning home from grocery shopping were shot to death by their next-door neighbor, who then fatally shot himself in the city’s West Oak Lane late Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Just before 4 p.m., police and paramedics responded to 911 calls about a shooting in the 7300 block of East Walnut Lane and found a 77-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman with gunshot wounds on the front steps of their home. at the rowhouse, Superintendent Scott Small said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, but the woman was still alive and was transported by police to Jefferson Einstein Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was pronounced dead, Small said. It is not yet clear whether the man and woman are married, in a relationship or simply living together.

An unidentified man in his 50s or 60s was also found dead on the stairs with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head, Small said.

Police found five shell casings and a semiautomatic handgun next to the men’s bodies, Small said.

Residents told police there had been some disputes between the man and woman and their neighbors in the past, but the motive for Wednesday’s shooting was not immediately known, Small said.

Small said several bags of shopping items were also strewn about at the scene, and police were told the pair had parked and apparently returned from a shopping trip.