A 28-year-old man is suspected of killing four people in a shooting spree that began Monday night in two Alabama counties, officials said.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Daniel P. Watson, of Pell City, was booked into the St. Clair County Jail in Asheville on one count of murder and one count of murder with a firearm. The sheriff’s office identified the victims as Amber L. Manning and Timothy R. as Davidson.
It said Watson was also being taken into custody in connection with two murders that happened Monday night in Birmingham, Jefferson County, about 35 miles away.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald of the Birmingham Police Department said in a video statement Watson confessed to the Birmingham murders after being taken into custody at about 6 a.m. local time Tuesday in connection with the St. Clair County shooting.
He said that following the confession, officers in Birmingham found two victims, a woman and a man, who had died of gunshot wounds at a local residence.
Fitzgerald said investigators believe Watson shot in Birmingham before traveling to St. Clair County and fatally shooting Manning and Davidson.
Fitzgerald said authorities were still working to establish a motive in the killings. However, he added that it appeared that Watson knew at least some of the victims. His relationship to those victims was not immediately clear.
It was not immediately clear whether Watson had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
