The killer’s motive — if any — was unknown and authorities turned their attention Monday to trying to offer what protections they could to homeless people who might become targets.
By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and ASHRAF KHALIL NEW YORK (AP) — A search was underway Monday for a gunman who has been stalking homeless men sleeping on the streets of Washington, D.C., and New York City, fatally shooting two people and wounding three more in less than two weeks. Police released surveillance photographs of the suspected gunman late Sunday, including one in which the hooded man can be seen holding a pistol in a blue glove. The killer’s motive — if any — was unknown and authorities turned their attention Monday to trying to offer what protections they could to homeless people who might become targets. New York Mayor Eric Adams said police officers and homeless outreach teams would focus on finding unhoused people in the subways and other locations and would urge them to seek refuge at city-owned shelters. “The case is a clear and horrific intentional act of taking the life of someone, it appears, because he was homeless,” Adams said at a news conference late Sunday. “Two individuals were shot while sleeping on the streets, not committing a crime but sleeping on the streets.” In Washington, city outreach workers were passing out flyers among the homeless population, urging people to “be vigilant” and featuring multiple pictures of the suspect. “Our shelters have space and are ready to welcome residents needing a place to stay,” the flyers stated. The latest violence underscored the urgency to get the homeless off the streets and into safe housing, said Jacquelyn Simone, the policy director for the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City.
