Police seek gunman in New York City, DC shootings of homeless men

Police are searching for a gunman who is responsible for five shootings that have taken place in New York City and Washington, D.C., targeting homeless men.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department released a joint statement on Sunday announcing that they believe the same unnamed, male suspect is behind five shootings in the Big Apple and the nation’s capital that have occurred between March 3 and March 12.

Three of the shootings took place in Washington, D.C. and two were in New York City. Two of them were fatal.

The two most recent incidents occurred in New York on the morning of March 12. In both shootings, the victims were sleeping on the street when they were shot without provocation.

The departments said they are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to look into the incidents. They released images of the suspect in both cities.

“Given the similarity in the modus operandi of the perpetrator, common circumstances involved in each shooting, circumstances of the victims and recovered evidence, the NYPD, the MPDC and the ATF will jointly investigate these offenses,” the departments wrote.

NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell called attacks on the homeless population an “especially heinous crime.”

“Our homeless population is one of our most vulnerable and an individual praying on them as they sleep is an exceptionally heinous crime,” Sewell said in a statement. “We will use every tool, every technique and every partner to bring the killer to justice.”

Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said his department is committed to working with law enforcement partners to find the suspect behind the attacks.

“From the first incident, the Metropolitan Police has spared no resource in our efforts to identify the suspect behind these cowardly acts,” Contee said in a statement. “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.”

The NYPD, Metropolitan Police Department and AFT’s Washington Field Division are all offering monetary rewards to individuals who provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person behind the incidents.

The search for the suspect comes amid an increased focus on violent crime in New York City.