Subject now suspect after new video surfaces from Seminole Heights
TAMPA (FOX 13) - There's renewed fervor in the investigation into three killings in SE Seminole Heights after a fourth person became a victim early Tuesday morning.
The Tampa Police Department uncovered and released new video of a person, now being called a suspect, wearing slim-fitting pants and a hooded jacket, walking on November 14 in the area of the latest shooting.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan says the department has received hundreds of tips in the 24 hours since the fourth shooting death was announced.
Dugan said the reward increased again and is now at $91,000 for anyone with information that leads to an arrest.
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The brief bit of new surveillance video released Tuesday shows a person walking, but the surrounding area is shaded out. TPD was not ready to release information about the area in which the video was captured.
Chief Dugan said it was in the area of the latest shooting.
"Someone has to know who this individual is," Dugan said. "We need someone who is thoughtful, cares, and has the heart and the fortitude and the bravery to step forward and tell us who this person is and give us the identity."
Dugan said his department is not using the term serial killer because investigators are not completely convinced all four shooting deaths are connected. He said it is an assumption on which officers are operating at this point.
"We have rallied together as a community, as a neighborhood," Chief Dugan said. "When people stick together, come outside, We're asking that people turn on their porch lights from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and come out and stay outside."
Tuesday, many in the community reported heavily-armed FBI agents going door-to-door, asking to search homes near the latest shooting.
It's been more than a month since the last shooting death. Neighbors say Tuesday's killing shattered the illusion that the killer was no longer interested in the area.
The murders started in early October. Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, and Anthony Naiboa were all killed within a few blocks of one another, just days apart.
Tuesday, many in the community reported heavily-armed FBI agents going door-to-door, asking to search homes near the latest shooting.
It's been more than a month since the last shooting death. Neighbors say Tuesday's killing shattered the illusion that the killer was no longer interested in the area.
The murders started in early October. Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, and Anthony Naiboa were all killed within a few blocks of one another, just days apart.
Tuesday's shooting claimed the life of 60-year-old Ronald Felton. Police said he was shot as he walked across Nebraska Avenue early in the morning.
Investigators think the shooter snuck up from behind and fired. Felton collapsed only yards from the church where he volunteers at a food kitchen.
"His life didn't go for nothing," said Johnny Daniels, who is a deacon at the New Season Apostolic Ministries, which runs the food pantry. "What he did was a blessing for this community and to this church family. We love him and we love the family that the came from because they raised a good man."
Daniels said the food pantry is not normally open on Wednesdays, but he decided to open it the day after Felton was killed to honor a man he said did it all.
"Ronnie was my Superman here," Daniels told FOX 13. "It wouldn't have been right if we wouldn't have [opened Wednesday] because he would have wanted us to do it."
Meanwhile, Mitchell's aunt, Angie Dupree, feels like she lost another loved one.
"It's senseless. You can't even wrap your head around it. What thrill is he getting out of this? You're ripping families apart and we're not able to grieve like we should grieve and just move forward and move on with it," Dupree said. "Look at what you're taking away from this world: people that were going to flourish and be something about themselves, or were helping people or were doing things for this world."
Tampa police continued to go door to door Wednesday, just as they did a day earlier, looking for any kind of evidence that could help them find the killer. They're also asking for anyone with surveillance cameras in the area to check to see if it recorded anything that could be helpful.