Police fear serial killer could be behind fourth Tampa shooting

(Reuters) - Police in Tampa, Florida, were investigating whether a fatal shooting on Tuesday could be linked to a possible serial killer who is feared to have murdered three victims in a string of night attacks terrorizing a city neighborhood.

The 60-year-old victim, Ronald Felton, was shot from behind shortly before 5 a.m. as he was crossing a street in central Tampa's Seminole Heights area, interim Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan told reporters.

"Right now we are treating it as though it is related (to the previous killings) until we can rule otherwise," Dugan said.

Three people were shot to death in Seminole Heights last month, two of them while waiting at bus stops.

Dugan described the gunman as a black male with a thin build, dressed in black and wearing a black baseball cap, and said he likely lived in the area.

Police have said they think a single killer is behind those three attacks because they happened so close to each other at roughly the same time in the evening, and without any obvious motive.

Television footage showed a heavy police presence at the scene of Tuesday's shooting.

Dugan said local residents should remain in their homes until the area is cleared, and he urged them to share any information they might have with authorities.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Bernadette Baum)