The alleged serial killer in a small Florida town, Seminole Heights, was caught on Nov. 29, after killing four people while they were walking alone at night. The search lasted two months, finally reaching an end after a tip off of a firearm at a local McDonald’s. The gun appeared to have been used for the killings. Police linked the gun to its owner, eventually arresting him a short period of time later.

The suspected killer, Howell Donaldson III, admitted to owning the gun but did not confess to the killings. Donaldson has been arrested on four accounts of murder, responsible for the killings of Benjamin Miller, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa and Ronald Felton. All four of these people had no apparent connections and the victims were killed with a gun within a half mile radius of each other. Smith & Wesson .40 caliber cartridges were found at the scene of the killings. People around the town grew afraid, stopping ordinary everyday activities like walking their dogs and staying out at night.

“[If I lived in that town] I too would not feel safe,” freshman Sydney Denison said. “I would feel as though he would kill the entire town.”

The suspect was arrested after a tip off from a manager at a local McDonald’s. A gun was left on Nov. 28, where Donaldson had previously worked. The manager found the gun, and reported it to the police. The McDonald’s was located only a couple miles from where the killings took place.

“I think it [reporting the gun] was very helpful to figuring out who the killer was,” Denison said. “They may not have caught him [without it]”

Donaldson had previously played on a university basketball team, beginning in 2011 and graduation early in 2017. He attended St. John’s University in New York. An old suitemate expressed surprise at the thought of Donaldson as a killer, and police are still finding a motive for his killings. His parents also did not have an explanation of Donaldson’s motives, appearing devastated and shocked upon hearing of his arrest.

“Sometimes people just change for the worse, and sometimes people can’t change that when it happens,” Denison said.

The killer will face criminal charges for the murders.  The families of the victims have faced an enormous struggle of grief, and will finally rest easy knowing that the killer has been caught.