Police Arrest Suspect in Connection with Murder Spree in Tampa

Tampa police arrested a suspect in the killing of four people in the Seminole Heights neighborhood on Tuesday, November 28, after following up on a tip.Howell Emanuel Donaldson III, 28, was detained in a McDonald’s for questioning after officers were alerted by a report of a man with a gun in a bag. “After several hours, TPD had enough information to charge Donaldson with all four of the homicides that have occurred in the Seminole Heights area,” the Tampa police news release said.Shell casings and cell-phone data tied Donaldson to the scene of the four homicides, a news report said. The casings from the first three crime scenes matched the gun Donaldson told police he had purchased, the news report said.It was the same gun Donaldson gave to a coworker in the McDonald’s on Tuesday afternoon, the news report said. Donaldson reportedly told the coworker he was leaving the state, and the coworker gave the gun to a police officer working on paperwork in the restaurant at the time.Four people have been killed in the Seminole Heights neighborhood since the beginning of October. Benjamin Mitchell, 22, was killed on October 9 in the first of three homicides over 11 days. Monica Hoffa, 32, was killed two days later. Anthony Naiboa was killed on October 19, 200 yards away from the first murder scene. Richard Felton, 60, was killed on November 14. Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff, Tampa Police via Storyful