Police in Tampa may have a lead on a potential serial killer suspected of fatally shooting four people in the last month.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said Tuesday that a person is being questioned in connection with the four fatal shootings that took place in the city’s Seminole Height’s neighborhood.
He told CNN the force received a tip about a person with a gun when they confronted them at a local McDonalds and confiscated the weapon. They are now interviewing the person to try and determine if he or she is connected to the killings.
The person being questioned isn’t currently under arrest or in custody; it’s not yet known if the gun was used in the murders.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, pictured, said that a person is being questioned in connection to the four fatal shootings that took place in the city’s Seminole Height’s neighborhood over the last month
The suspect, who is pictured in a surveillance video released after the attacks, is described as a thin light-skinned black man between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches. Because all four victims were killed in the same way there are fears that a serial killer in on the loose
‘We have to be very careful about what we release because this person may be completely innocent,’ Dugan told CNN.
‘I’m optimistic on this one but only time will tell. We have a lot of work to do.’
He wouldn’t explain why he thinks the person is connected to the killings.
Earlier this week police connected the killings based on their methodology – meaning they were all killed in the same way, which is common for serial killers.
Each of the four victims was killed but not robbed while they walked along at night within a half-mile are of the Seminole Heights neighborhood.
The victims, though, didn’t have any common similarities based on race, age or occupation.
The first attack happened on October 9 when Benjamin Mitchell was shot dead after getting off a bus in the neighborhood at night.
Two days after Mitchell, 22, was shot, Monica Hoffa, 32, was gunned down. And on October 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was shot after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. Police patrolling nearby heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene to find Naiboa dead.
The first attack happened on October 9 when Benjamin Mitchell (left) was shot dead after getting off a bus in the neighborhood at night. Two days after Mitchell, 22, was shot, Monica Hoffa, (right) 32, was gunned down
On October 19, Anthony Naiboa, (left) 20, was shot after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. Then on November 14 Ronald Felton (right) was crossing at Nebraska and Wilder when a man dressed in all black came up behind him and shot him
Each of the four victims was killed but not robbed while they walked along at night within a half-mile are of the Seminole Heights neighborhood
Then in late October Dugan released a blurry video of a suspect, who can be seen wearing a hooded jacket and walking down a street near one of the shootings.
He then released another video on November 16 of who he believes is the same man, who was present near the fatal shooting of Ronald Felton. Felton was the last of the four victims to be killed, and was shot on November 14.
Police said the victim, a construction worker and father of three adult children, was crossing at Nebraska and Wilder when a man dressed in all black came up behind him and shot him.
Dugan has described the suspect in the video as a thin light-skinned black man between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches.
Dugan said he’s being stingy with details because he’s ‘guarded.’
‘It’s day 51 that we’ve been dong this. It’s two weeks since Ronald Felton was murdered,’ he told CNN.
‘It’s been along time for the families and for the cops.’
And that proved true on Monday when Ronald Felton was laid to rest by his family.
His family members said they are not mad at the person who took his life, but pleaded for the killing to stop.
‘If you got a heart, please turn yourself in, that’s all we want,’ Felton’s twin brother Reggie said, according to Fox 13.