A trigger-happy gang member and at least one accomplice are under investigation in connection with the weekend slayings at City Grill restaurant downtown, law enforcement officials told The Buffalo News late Monday.

While police declined to release the names of the men, they said they believe they were involved in a dispute between members of two city street gangs that apparently led to the shootings that killed four people and injured four others early Saturday.

Police also are trying to determine whether the City Grill shootings are linked -- either directly or indirectly -- to several other recent city shootings.

Monday night, Buffalo police said they were making progress, but no new arrests were reported.

The only person who had been charged in the case was Keith Johnson, 25, of Minnesota Avenue, who was arrested Saturday, but the murder charges against him were dropped Sunday after police and prosecutors said they realized they had charged the wrong man.

"There were definitely a number of gang-associated people in the restaurant when this happened. It was a fight between some of these people that led to all the shooting," one law enforcement official told The News. "And lately, we have had a lot of gang-related shootings ... A lot of the things that have happened lately are related to shootings or killings that happened months ago."

Police have been searching the city for one suspect -- a young man reportedly affiliated with a gang -- since at least Sunday afternoon, according to the Rev. Darius G. Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist Church.

"I know the police are searching for this young man, and I am trying through intermediaries to get him to turn himself in," Pridgen said. "I want to help this young man to turn himself in to the police, and I'm willing to help him in any way I can.

"I want him to turn himself in because I know there are other people searching for him who are very, very upset about these shootings ... He could be in serious danger. I am also trying to reach out to the people who might want to cause him harm and tell them they should let the police handle this."

Pridgen declined to identify the young man. He said he has heard that the man is affiliated with a city street gang and that he was the shooter in the attack. The pastor also declined to name the gang.

Authorities said they have been studying a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority surveillance videotape from the Metro Rail station near the shooting scene that shows a "chilling" view of the killer, who appears to be deliberately shooting at individuals -- as opposed to a random, scattershot approach.

At least one of the man's associates -- who may have acted as his getaway driver after the shooting -- also is sought for questioning, according to law enforcement officials.

So far, police have declined to offer any public speculation on what fueled one of the bloodiest shooting attacks in the region in recent decades.

Killed were Danyell Mackin, 30; Tiffany Wilhite, 32; Shawn-Tia McNeil, 27; and Willie McCaa III, 26. Four other people were injured, and they are all expected to survive.

Many in the restaurant were there for a party honoring Mackin, a former Buffalo resident, and his wife, Tanisha, another former Buffalonian, who were married last year in Texas. The Mackins also were in Buffalo to celebrate the christening of their baby daughter.

During a Monday news conference, top city officials said they need more witnesses to come forward and cooperate with homicide detectives. Police believe more than 100 people were in and around the restaurant when the shooter opened fire at about 2:30 a.m. One witness told The News he heard at least a dozen shots fired.

Mayor Byron W. Brown and Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda would not provide specifics about the investigation. Derenda declined to comment on any motive for the shooting and also said police are not releasing any surveillance video footage that may show the shooter.

"We don't believe it's in the best interests of the investigation at this time," Derenda said.

Pridgen said he has spoken to several people who either were in the restaurant or were relatives of people who were there.

"There was a dispute that broke out between some of the young men there, and I don't know what it was about," Pridgen said. "One of the young men who were told the leave the bar went to his car and got a gun. Later, he started shooting."

Police are trying to determine how the City Grill attack fits in with several other violent incidents in the city.

The weekend gunfire targeting young people continued late Saturday and Sunday, with at least four more shootings, including the shooting death of a 20-year-old man and the critical wounding of a 23-year-old.

A shooting at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday on Sattler Avenue left Spencer Cowart, 23, in critical condition in Erie County Medical Center, authorities said. Cowart was shot in the head with birdshot from a shotgun and possibly a .22-caliber handgun, police said.

At about 5 a.m. Sunday, a 15-year-old boy was grazed in the shoulder by someone who was spraying gunfire near his family's home on Floss Avenue. His injuries were not serious.

The next shooting, at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday at East Delavan Avenue and Hagen Street, left a male in his late teens in ECMC with wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

At 9 p.m. Sunday, Ronald Walker, 20, grandson of a security coordinator at True Bethel Baptist Church, was shot multiple times at East Delavan and Cambridge avenues and was rushed to ECMC, where he later died.

"All these shootings may be gang-related," one investigator said.

Homicide detectives are looking at all the shootings, to see if there is any connection among them.

"Given what happened outside the City Grill, the department is taking a close look at everything," police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said.

Brown and Derenda said the city will accept offers of assistance that have come from the governor's office and the U.S. Attorney, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

They said the Police Department already had boosted the number of officers patrolling the downtown business district, and they have a plan in the works to further boost public safety there and elsewhere in the city.

"We want the public to know that our Police Department is doing everything that it can to follow up on every lead to continue to work around the clock to get these criminals off the streets of our city," Brown said, referring to the City Grill shooting and other fatal shootings.

Brown said that the city's request to Buffalo pastors to urge their congregations to contact police with any information they have is paying off but that more help is needed.

Derenda said a reward for information leading to an arrest in the City Grillshooting could be announced soon.

The restaurant at 268 Main St. was the site of several parties Friday night, including a birthday party and the event honoring the Mackins.

Pridgen said the past few days have been a difficult time for his congregation. He identified Walker as the grandson of Luther Walker, who has been active in anti-violence initiatives as a security leader at his church.

Pridgen said he also knows the families of three of the murder victims -- Mackin, McNeil and Wilhite.

"As I said in church on Sunday, the big problem is young people who can't control their tempers, who use violence to settle their problems instead of talking," Pridgen said. "If people would just think before they react, we'd have a lot less people in the Holding Center."

Anyone with information on any of the shootings is asked to call the confidential Buffalo Police Department's TIP-CALL line at 847-2255 or "text a tip" to the same number.

News Staff Reporter Stephen T. Watson contributed to this report.

dherbeck@buffnews.comnull