WASHINGTON — A father and his son have been shot dead near a hospital in the District of Columbia.

A police officer on routine patrol Sunday discovered the bodies of a father and son just steps away from United Methodist Hospital in Southeast. Capt. Robert Alder, with Metropolitan police, says after seeing a car stopped and a door open, the officer found 71-year-old Preston Cornelius Johnson of Capitol Heights, Maryland, lying outside the car just before 10 p.m. Sunday.

The officer then found Johnson’s son, 49-year-old Preston Cornelius Johnson Jr., of Suitland, dead inside the car. Both had been shot.

While Alder wouldn’t discuss the details of the case, he says the investigation is progressing.

Meanwhile, an uptick in homicides in the city in recent days has officers looking for a connection between them.

“We have had a higher than normal number of homicides since Christmas Eve,” Alder said when he was questioned about the recent rise in crime during a Monday press conference.

“At this time we have not determined any relationship between the cases we have had since Christmas Eve,” Alder said.

Police have made no arrests in the case of the father and son and are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.