Tampa Police say finding gun was key in arresting suspect in four slayings

TAMPA, Fla. — A recent college graduate who was charged in four slayings that terrorized a Tampa neighborhood over the past 51 days used the same gun in all of the shootings and targeted people near bus stops with “no apparent motive,” a police chief said Wednesday.

The crack in the case came Tuesday when Howell Emanuel Donaldson, 24, brought a bag with a loaded handgun in it to his job at a McDonald’s and asked a co-worker to hold it while he went across the street, authorities said. Restaurant workers thought that was odd and when Donaldson left, they reported the gun to a police officer who was doing paperwork there, setting off an investigation that linked Donaldson to the shootings. Aside from matching shell casings at the shootings, authorities said location data from Donaldson’s cellphone put him at the scene of at least three of the killings.

“The gun is what we needed,” Police Chief Brian Dugan said at a news conference surrounded by family members of the victims.

The arrest overnight brought relief to an anxious community worried about a serial killer. The first shooting happened Oct. 9, followed by two more shooting deaths. By Halloween, the fear was so great that police escorted children while trick-or-treating. The fourth killing happened earlier this month.

“We had a community that was on edge,” Mayor Bob Buckhorn said. “Today the light shines. The darkness is over. This community begins the healing process.”

Donaldson did not live in the Seminole Heights neighborhood where the shootings occurred and told investigators he was unfamiliar with it. Arrest records don’t list an attorney and the police chief said he didn’t know if he had a lawyer yet. He’s scheduled for a first appearance hearing on Thursday.

Donaldson graduated from St. John’s University in New York in January 2017, according to school spokesman Brian Browne. He was a walk-on for the men’s basketball team during the 2011-12 season, but never played in a game, Browne said.

After graduating, he worked in customer support at the Ultimate Medical Academy, a school that trains workers for health care jobs. He started there Feb. 13 and worked for about three months before he was fired for absenteeism. The academy said he passed a background check before he was hired.