In just two hours late Saturday night and early yesterday morning, gunmen lay siege to two of Pittsburgh's West End neighborhoods in two drive-by shootings, leaving a young woman and a young man dead and residents shaken by the brazen acts of violence.

Pittsburgh police gave an identical description of the car in each incident -- a green Buick Regal with "fancy rims" -- though they said it was unknown whether it was the same car. Yesterday, they had made no arrests and were not naming any suspects, but they continued to interview witnesses.

Killed were Dolores English, 21, who was sitting in the back seat of a car stopped at Woodlow and Crucible streets in Crafton Heights when the gunfire erupted Saturday, and Antwon Thomas, 16, who was gunned down early yesterday on Chartiers Avenue.

Michael Fritzman, who lives in the Crafton Heights Townhomes on Crucible Street, heard the melee that preceded Ms. English's death.

It was "like a war was going on," he said, as he swept up the remnants of the right headlight of his car, which he said was struck by a vehicle fleeing the scene Saturday night.

He was watching the 11 o'clock news when heard the first shots fired from somewhere nearby. For the next half hour, he remained crouched on the floor as he listened to intermittent gunfire from different corners of the complex outside, followed by the squeal of tires and yelling.

"You heard like a 'pop, pop, pop, pop,' and then you heard a pause and then another round," he said.

Outside, Ms. English, who neighbors knew as "Tootsie," was seated in the back seat of a car at Woodlow and Crucible streets, headed home to her Fairywood apartment after having dropped one of the passengers off at the nearby Greenway Apartments. People were standing in the streets, police said, and as they cleared, the car holding the shooter headed toward them.

A barrage of gunfire erupted from the car and Ms. English was struck when bullets pierced the back left window. The driver, who noticed Ms. English slumped over in the back seat, rushed her to Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side, where she was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to the head, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said.

The driver and the other passengers in the car were not injured.

Crafton Heights residents said the shooting once again put them on edge. Mr. Fritzman, who lives with his 7-year-old son, said the lawn in front of his townhouse is bustling with children playing at night during the summertime. His son's short plastic basketball hoop with a makeshift plywood backboard stood on his concrete porch.

Residents in the complex across the street said their row of townhouses is home to about 30 young children, including several infants. When they heard the first spate of gunshots, they said, about four young kids were playing outside. Their mothers scooped them up, left behind their toys and hurried them inside.

As they kept a close eye on their children, some said they were looking to move.

Yet Mr. Fritzman and other residents said they've grown accustomed to hearing shots in the neighborhood at night, sometimes once a week.

"This is the hood. It's always like that. You might hear one gunshot," he said.

Still, he said, last night was exceptional.

On Chartiers Avenue, Antwon's brother, Deshawn McLaughlin, was upstairs watching television at the house they shared with their mother when he heard gunshots. He ran to the window to see flashes of gunfire erupting from the front and back of what looked like a sedan and then "just flew down the steps."

He heard his sister scream Antwon's name and then saw his brother on the sidewalk, at the base of the steps of neighbor Curtis Kyle's house at Chartiers Avenue and Middletown Street.

"I just seen him lying there, in a puddle of his own blood," he said, shaking his head.

Antwon was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:04 a.m. He died of multiple gunshot wounds to his back and extremities, the medical examiner's office said.

Mr. McLaughlin said he was angered by the bold act of violence. Just feet away, outside under a canopy in the house's yard, his sister, aunt and other relatives were playing an early morning game of spades after a family gathering at the house.

Police said Antwon had been talking to family members immediately before he was shot.

Standing at a makeshift memorial of foil balloons and flowers at the spot where his brother was found, Mr. McLaughlin and others struggled to figure out why Antwon, a friendly student at Pittsburgh Langley High School, might be targeted. They did not believe it was random.

"I wouldn't have thought it [would happen to him], not in a million years," his brother said.

Antwon's friend Brandon Burke, 18, said Antwon was a "peacemaker," not a troublemaker. He had a loud and outgoing personality, but he was never looking for trouble, Mr. Burke said.

Mr. Kyle, who on occasion played pick-up basketball with Antwon at Chartiers Elementary School, said he was respectful and "a pleasant young man."

Police request anyone with information on either of the shootings to call the homicide detectives at 412-323-7161. Callers can remain anonymous.