NEW YORK — The gunman police believe has been targeting homeless men in New York City and Washington, D.C., shooting at least five of them as they slept and leaving two dead, was nabbed in the nation’s capital early Tuesday, authorities said.
“Early this AM, law enforcement arrested the suspect in Washington, DC,” the Metropolitan Police Department said in a tweet. “He is currently being interviewed at our Homicide Branch. Additional information will be forthcoming. Thanks to the community for all your tips.”
The NYPD confirmed the arrest and said more details would be known later in the morning.
Cops and federal agents on Monday stepped up their search for the suspect, identifying him as a lone gunman who is preying on both cities’ most vulnerable.
“Our homeless population is one of our most vulnerable and an individual praying on them as they sleep is an exceptionally heinous crime,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said late Sunday. “We will use every tool, every technique and every partner to bring the killer to justice.”
“Someone knows this person,” New York City Mayor Adams said at a joint news conference in Washington, D.C. with Mayor Muriel Bowser. “We’re asking for the public to find him. We don’t want to lose another resident in this city, in New York City or anywhere else.”
Adams dispatched homeless outreach teams to encourage people on the streets to move to shelters.
The killer’s last known attack was early Saturday morning, when he shot a man sleeping in a doorway in SoHo in the head, killing him, police said. The man was the shooter’s second victim that morning. Only 90 minutes prior, he shot a homeless man, who was struck in the arm and survived, police said.
The gunman, captured on surveillance video wearing all black, shot three men in D.C. between March 3 and March 9. One of those victims died after being shot and stabbed multiple times. His tent was also set on fire.
“Great teamwork on the part of the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, the New York City Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” NYPD officials said in a statement after the suspect was taken into custody. “The investigation remains active and ongoing.”
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