Police fear serial killer on the loose after shootings leave 2 dead and 3 injured

A manhunt has been launched for a potential serial killer after a series of attacks on homeless people.

Multiple victims have been brutally assaulted in New York and Washington DC, leaving two dead and three injured.

Officials are convinced it is the same man who has carried out the attacks.

Cops in both East Coast cities are now working together to find the perpetrator.

New York City and DC are less than a three-hour train ride apart.

Police have released video footage of the suspect, who they believe also shot and injured two rough sleepers in DC earlier this month and one other person in New York on Saturday.

Police say five homeless men, three in Washington, DC and two in New York City, have been shot in just a matter of days (NYPD/AFP)

Police from DC and New York CIty are working together to track down the suspect (NYPD/AFP)

Rough sleepers are now being urged to try and seek refuge over fears there will be more bloodshed.

Metropolitan Police chief Robert Contee of DC explained: "We are committed to sharing every investigative path, clue and piece of evidence with our law enforcement partners to bring this investigation to a swift conclusion and the individual behind these vicious crimes to justice."

Police believe it is the same man carrying out the attacks based on the similarities of each shooting and evidence found at the scenes.

Police believe the attacks in both cities are carried out by the same person based on evidence and similarities in the crimes (via REUTERS)

Officers added that the victims were attacked without provocation.

New York police commissioner Keechant Sewell said the city’s "homeless population is one of our most vulnerable and an individual preying on them as they sleep is an exceptionally heinous crime’"

The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, said a task force of police officers and a homeless outreach team will work to find unhoused people and urge them to seek refuge at city-owned shelters.

Poice are now urging rough sleepers to seek shelter to prevent more bloodshed (REUTERS)

He said: "‘The case is a clear and horrific intentional act of taking the life of someone, it appears, because he was homeless."

"Two individuals were shot while sleeping on the streets, not committing a crime but sleeping on the streets."

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also helping with the investigation.

The attacks bear similarities with the killing of four homeless men beaten to death as they slept on the streets in New York’s Chinatown in 2019.

Another homeless man, Randy Santos, pleaded not guilty to murder charges in those attacks.