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The Tampa Police announced that they arrested a suspect who may be the serial killer in the Seminole Heights neighborhood.

Since October 9, four individuals have been killed in a series of shootings that terrorized the neighborhood.  The Tampa Police believed that a serial killer was responsible for the murders.

During a press conference, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said the serial killer suspect is Howell Emanuel Donaldson III. They arrested him after receiving a tip that he had a gun at a McDonald’s restaurant in Ybor City.

Donaldson will be charged with four counts first degree murder in connection with the series of killings in the Seminole Heights neighborhood.

Chief Dugan said Donaldson works at a McDonalds. Around 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday, he showed up at the restaurant and gave a bag to a co-worker. When Donaldson left, the co-worker opened the bag and found a gun inside. He decided to give the back to a police officer that was inside the McDonald’s because he thought it was strange that Donaldson had a gun.

Tampa serial killer suspect admitted he owned the gun turned over to police

“That was the bit of information that we were looking for. That is what we needed. The police officer called the operation center and we took up the investigation immediately from there,” said Chief Dugan.

Chief Dugan emphasized that they released many information about their investigation into the murders. However, they never released anything about the gun, the most important piece of evidence in their investigation. He said the serial killer used the same gun in the four murders.

According to Dugan, Donaldson admitted that he owned the gun that was turned over to a police officer on Tuesday. However, he did not confess to the killings in the Seminole Heights neighborhood.

Chief Dugan said, "He was cooperative, but did not tell us why he was doing this. We were really hoping to find out what was driving him to do this. We don’t have answers yet. It is an ongoing investigation.”

Additionally, Chief Dugan said, "The person who called us, I cannot thank them enough for standing up and doing the right thing and saying 'this doesn't seem right, why does this person have a gun in a bag?”