BATON ROUGE- A law enforcement official says a serial killer was arrested in Louisiana last week after he called a sheriff's office and claimed responsibility for a string of shootings that killed three men and wounded a fourth.

The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, told The Associated Press that 36-year-old Ryan Sharpe wasn't a suspect in the four shootings until he called the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office last Wednesday and identified himself as the killer.

The official says the calls immediately led investigators to Sharpe's home in Clinton, where officers arrested him after a high-speed car chase.

Sharpe, the owner of a plumbing company, faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.