Neighbors looked out their windows onto Chester Street early this morning to a horrific sight: a woman lying on her back, screaming and dying from multiple gunshot wounds.

Mary Johnson, 29, a city resident, was shot at about 1:15 this morning in the first block of Chester Street, in the southeastern section of the city, police said. She died several hours later at a city hospital, where she had undergone surgery to try to save her.

This morning, city police had a man they described as "a person of interest" in custody, said City Police Chief Keith Sadler, but had not charged him in the murder.

Johnson may have known the man, but her killing was not the result of a domestic disagreement, Sadler said.

"It's a cold-blooded murder, that's what it is," he said, adding, "It's really a heartless killing."

Police were working to determine what led to the killing, he said, and hoped to release more information later today.

A neighbor on the block heard a vehicle door opening and shutting just before the shooting. Then neighbors heard between six and 12 gunshots.

Immediately after that, they heard a woman screaming.

"I heard everything, gunshots, a woman yelling, 'Oh my god, oh my god, help me,' " said Lila Nunez, who lives on Pershing Avenue, near the site of the shooting.

Another resident, Beatrice Vazquez, said, "I wanted to look out the window but I was afraid shots would come in. My husband, when he heard the screaming, he said, 'There's the body right there.' "

Johnson was lying on the street, about 15 feet from the front door of the Vazquez home at 75 Chester St. She was wearing a jacket and lying on her back with her hands over her head, Mrs. Vazquez said.

Mrs. Vazquez did not recognize her.

City police said Johnson did not live on the block. They did not have her exact address at press time late this morning.

Sgt. Todd Umstead said he could not release specifics of investigators' early findings but said the murder "was not a random thing."

A maroon minivan may be connected to the murder in some way.

City police patrol cars were parked on the block at mid-morning today, apparently guarding a maroon Chevy minivan that was wrapped in yellow police tape.

A police officer later drove the van from the block, which is made up of about 10 mostly well-kept homes and some garages on a narrow, one-way street.

Neighbors heard a commotion before the shooting occurred.

Nunez was awakened by loud sounds at about 1:10 a.m.

"I heard a car door open and close, open and close," she said.

She looked out her window and saw the maroon van, which several neighbors said they did not recognize as belonging to anyone on the street.

Nearby, Alida Rodriguez, of 56 Chester St., was awakened by a woman's voice. The woman sounded like she was arguing with a man. Rodriguez could not make out what the two were saying and did not recognize either of their voices.

Then, Nunez and Rodriguez both heard gunfire.

"I heard all the gunshots, all 12 gunshots, right in a row," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez did not look out of her window. "I didn't want to see," she said. "You never know if one of those bullets will hit you in the face."

Police arrived very quickly, Nunez said, and she then saw a bunch of people standing on the street, talking.

Umstead declined to say if Johnson had been assaulted in any other way, or if she had run into the street from a house on that block before being shot.

'Cold-blooded murder' in Lancaster

Staff writer Cindy Stauffer can be reached at cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024.