Possible Serial Killer On Loose After Third Murder In Florida Neighborhood

Police in Florida are searching for what might be termed a serial killer, who has been "terrorizing" a Tampa neighborhood by a string of shootings after three people were shot and killed in the same vicinity in little more than a week, reports said Saturday.

The latest murder occurred in the Seminole Heights neighborhood in Tampa, Florida on Thursday night when Anthony Naiboa, 20, who had autism was killed in the southeast of the neighborhood while he was returning home from work, according to Tampa Police. Officers had been patrolling the neighborhood already when they heard shots fired, but when they found Naiboa, he was already dead, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said in a news conference on Sunday.

"But it was too late," Dugan said. "He was already dead when our police officers came upon him."

Police said that Naiboa appeared to take a wrong bus and landed in that neighborhood. he then was walking towards the north to find a bus stop, when he was shot. His father called the police department, "worried that his son was missing," Dugan said.

"He should not have been in this neighborhood," Dugan said of Naiboa. The 20-year-old graduated from Tampa's George S. Middleton High School in 2016 and was eldest of five children, Dugan added.

"He was in the prime of his life, and it has been taken instantly," the police chief said.

Dugan said that police have been frustrated over the past incidents involving the shootings as they had already saturated the neighborhood, but the suspect still got away within minutes after shooting Naiboa.

"I go from frustration to anger," said Dugan. He said the killings were too coincidental to be anything but connected, as three murders took place within a span of 10 days and all of them within a few square blocks of each other.

"When you look at the timeframe, the proximity, that there is no apparent motive, that they are alone, the victims are a lot of the time, it’s clear to me that they’re all linked," he said.

The first murder took place on Oct. 9, when police found the body of Benjamin Mitchell, 22, at a bus stop in the neighborhood at 15th Street and East Frierson Avenue. The second victim was Monica Hoffa, killed on Oct. 13, whose body was found in a field near the 1000 Block of East New Orleans Ave- only a few blocks away from the previous one, CBS News reported.

Police said they haven't yet identified a suspect or determined a motive behind the murders. The series of killings have sent a ripple of anxiety through the neighborhood, which has been famous for breweries, restaurants, and bungalows.

"There's no rhyme or reason, so we all feel a little shaken and concerned that we could be the next victim," said Stan Lasater, president of the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association.

"We've always had small, petty crimes," Lasater said. "But when we had the first murder, the community was really shaken. And then we had the second, and third, and now the community is definitely on alert," according to NBC News.

Dugan urged the residents to carry on their daily activities but asked them not to venture out alone. "We're not going to be held hostage," he said.

A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the recent Seminole Heights killings. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 813-442-9300 or ATF at 813-918-6367.