Alabama man suspected of killing 4 people in shootings across 2 counties

A 28-year-old man is suspected of killing four people in shootings across two Alabama counties that began Monday night, authorities said.

Daniel P. Watson of Pell City was booked into the St. Clair County Jail in Ashville for one count of capital murder and one count of murder with a gun, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office identified the victims as Amber L. Manning and Timothy R. Davidson.

It said Watson was also being detained in connection with two homicides that unfolded in Birmingham in Jefferson County, roughly 35 miles away, on Monday night.

Birmingham Police Department Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in a video statement that Watson had confessed to the killings in Birmingham after being taken into custody at around 6 a.m. local time Tuesday in connection with the St. Clair County shooting.

Following the confession, officers in Birmingham located two victims, a woman and a man who appeared to have died of gunshot wounds, at a local residence, he said.

Fitzgerald said investigators believed Watson had carried out the shooting in Birmingham before traveling to St. Clair County and fatally shooting Manning and Davidson.

Authorities were still working to establish a motive in the killings, Fitzgerald said. However, he said it appeared that Watson knew at least some of the victims. His connection to those victims was not immediately clear.