Florida Gov. Rick Scott hugs Tampa Police Officer Randi Whitney, the officer credited with the arrest of Howell Emanuel Donaldson, III, the 24-year-old Tampa resident charged with four counts of first-degree murder, at Tampa Police Headquarters in Tampa, Fla. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. Scott's visit followed the announcement of the arrest in the Seminole Heights murders. (Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

TAMPA, Fla. - The Latest on fatal shootings in a Tampa neighbourhood (all times local):

2:20 p.m.

New York City police say they would like ballistics results of the gun used in the Tampa, Florida, killings to see if it matches any unsolved crimes in New York.

Twenty-four-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson was arrested Tuesday by Tampa police in the shooting deaths of four people. He has been charged with first-degree murder and detained after a tip that he had a gun at a McDonald's restaurant. They said he used the same gun for all the shootings.

Authorities say the gun was purchased in early October.

Donaldson attended St. John's University in Queens, graduating in January 2017. Police in New York said he had an arrest in 2014 for a minor crime, but the arrest was sealed.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said police will go back through cold cases to see whether Donaldson could be linked to any crimes.

Police officials are in contact with Tampa police.

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10:15 a.m.

The Tampa police chief says the suspect in four killings there used the same gun in all of the shootings.

Police Chief Brian Dugan said during a news conference Wednesday that 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson was co-operative with investigators but he did not tell authorities why he was doing this. The chief says at this point there is "no apparent motive."

Dugan said Donaldson admitted that he owned the gun that was turned over to police and cracked the case, but Donaldson did not admit to the killings.

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7:30 a.m.

Despite having a suspect in custody, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan says authorities still don't have a motive for a string of shootings in a neighbourhood that killed four people.

Speaking Wednesday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Dugan said police will still need help from the public as they try to learn more about 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson, who was arrested Tuesday and is facing four counts of first-degree murder.

Dugan said he's spoken to Donaldson, who he said was "pretty non-responsive" and subdued. Dugan said Donaldson hasn't admitted to the shootings but did admit to owning a gun he took into a McDonald's shortly before being taken into custody.

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7:30 a.m.

A Florida police officer who was doing paperwork while sitting in a McDonald's restaurant got a tip led authorities to the suspect accused of killing four people in random shootings over the past two months.

Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said during a late-night news conference Tuesday that 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson walked into the McDonalds and asked a fellow employee to hold a bag with a loaded semiautomatic gun while he went to a nearby business to get a payday loan. The employee consulted with a manager who notified the officer sitting at a table.

When Donaldson returned, police were waiting. He's facing four counts of murder.

Television station WFLA, citing an arrest report, said a search of Donaldson's cellphone found location data storage that indicated three days of recorded times and activities that correspond with the first three shootings on Oct. 9, Oct. 11 and Oct. 19.

The report says Donaldson asked for a lawyer while talking with police.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017