TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – We now know more about the gun in the McDonald’s bag that led to the arrest of Howell “Trai” Donaldson.
Police say Donaldson used a .40-caliber Glock handgun to gun down Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa and Ronald Felton between Oct. 9 and Nov. 14.
“The gun is what we needed,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said. “The same gun was used in all four murders. That was the bit of information that we would not release. If you recall, we gave a lot of information up front, but we did not release that.”
According to an arrest affidavit, the gun confiscated Tuesday contained five unfired rounds of SIG brand Smith and Wesson .40 bullets, a direct match to the fired cartridge casings recovered from all four murder scenes.
Investigators learned Donaldson purchased the firearm and ammunition at Shooters World-which is located on East Fletcher Avenue-on Oct. 3. He picked it up on Oct. 7, after the mandatory waiting period. Receipts show Donaldson bought a 2-round box of SIG brand Smith and Wesson ammunition, the affidavit states.
Due to cell phone evidence and the timeline of events, it was easy for police to link Donaldson to the crimes, but tracing shell casings back to a gun’s registered owner is often a complicated and time-consuming task.
Just like fingerprints, all guns have unique characteristics, and ballistics experts are able to examine bullets and cartridge casings to see if they were expelled from the same firearm.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives, the barrel of a weapon leaves distinct markings and grooves on each cartridge casing as it passes through the gun. The markings are typically produced by the gun’s breech face, firing pin, extractor and ejector.
News Channel 8’s Shannon Behnken spoke to gun experts on Wednesday and learned the .40 caliber Glock is the most popular gun sold in the country and used by law enforcement.
The gun, which costs about $600, is considered mid-level and fairly simple to use. Depending on the model, the gun fits about nine to 15 bullets.
“There’s no manual safety to the firearm, it’s all internal, so it’s load the firearm, load the magazine, put the magazine in the magazine well, pull that down and it’s ready to shoot,” said Jeff Brewer, owner of Patriot Arms & Outfitting in Brandon.
A representative from Shooters World said there was nothing unusual about Donaldson when he purchased the gun and he never used the shooting range there.
Chief Dugan said Donaldson admitted that he owned the gun, but did not admit to the murders.MORE ON SEMINOLE HEIGHTS ARREST:
