NEW YORK – A man wanted in a string of shootings targeting the homeless in New York and Washington were arrested early Tuesday, authorities said, after advice from the community and cooperation from police.
At least five men have been shot, two dead, since March 3 in a series of random attacks that left the homeless community on the sidelines as the suspect commuted between the two cities. , opened fire on people living on the sidewalk in sleeping bags and burned one alive inside a tent.
The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington announced the arrest of 30-year-old Gerald Brevard during a press conference. He was arrested around 2:30 a.m. after agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spotted him while traveling through the southeast part of the city.
DC police say Brevard has an arrest history that includes assaulting an officer in Washington. Court records show Brevard was arrested in July 2018 on assault charges and later pleaded guilty to attempted assault with a deadly weapon. He was found to be mentally disabled to appear in court in June 2019.
WHAT NEED TO CHANGE? The murders of homeless men in NYC and DC cause ‘shock and horror.’
Records show Brevard was sent to St. Elizabeths, a psychiatric facility in DC. A month later, he was deemed competent to stand trial. Soon after, records show, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison. That sentence, however, was suspended.
In 2018, Brevard was also signed up for help in the city for behavioral health services, according to Barbara Bazron, director of Behavioral Health in D.C.
The Metropolitan Police Department said no motive had been established, and Sheriff Robert Contee said the attacks appeared to be random.
“We hope Brevard’s arrest brings a sense of closure to you but also helps relieve our vulnerable homeless people in the District of Columbia,” Contee said. “This case is an example of what happens with the good support of the police, science and the community.”
Contee noted that on Monday, the day before his arrest, police did not know who the suspect was. Within hours of the surveillance image’s release, a tip from the community helped identify him. Police monitored his social media posts and found him in Washington, leading authorities to visit the city.
Brevard tried to flee when approached by ATF agents but was quickly apprehended, Contee said.
Brevard faces first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and assault with a dangerous weapon, Contee said, with possible additional charges.
Investigators in the two cities began suspecting a link between Sunday’s shootings after the leader of the Metropolitan Police Department’s murders, a former New York City resident, saw the pictures. The surveillance photo was released by the New York Police Department on Saturday night while scrolling through social media. Conte said.
The man in those pictures looks like someone who is being searched by the MPD homicide captain’s private department. Contee credited the community and departmental coordination for timely arrests, along with ballistic evidence examined by the ATF that confirmed the same weapon was used in all of the discharges. guns.
‘COLD BLOOD Killer’:5 homeless men shot in targeted attacks in Washington City, New York
According to police, the earliest known shooting occurred around 4 a.m. on March 3 in Washington, when a man was injured in the northeast area of the city. A second man was injured on March 8, just before 1:30 a.m
At 3 a.m. the next day, police and firefighters found a man dead inside a burning tent. He was initially believed to have suffered fatal burns, but an autopsy revealed he had died from multiple stab wounds and bullets.
Police said the shooting then moved to New York City. Surveillance video shows a man investigators believe to be Brevard at Penn Station in Manhattan at about 3:30 a.m. An hour later, a 38-year-old man was sleeping on the streets of Manhattan, not far away. entrance to the Dutch Tunnel, was shot. in his right arm while he sleeps. Police said the victim screamed, and the gunman ran away.
About 90 minutes later, the gunman shot dead another man in SoHo, police said.
The man’s body was found in his sleeping bag just before 5 p.m. Saturday. Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office, said he was shot in the head and neck. The victim had been lying in the street for hours before the authorities summoned him.
Police believe Brevard was back in Washington, D.C. after the New York attack.
Although Brevard has yet to be charged in the New York cases, police feel “very confident” that they have identified the right suspect, Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said.
However, he admitted, authorities have not yet discovered the gun used in the shooting. Contee added: “It’s an important part but we do cases every day where we don’t have guns.
All the shootings involved 22mm ammunition, surveillance photos and video, along with eyewitness testimony, all point to a single suspect – a man wearing special sneakers. , black pants and wearing the same mask, NYPD Detective Superintendent James Essig said. reporters at a press conference.
Charlie Patterson, ATF Washington Field Division special agent, said in a statement that the agency’s ballistic information network “is particularly important in this investigation, allowing us to quickly collate ballistic evidence connect all five shootings with the same weapon.”
Advocates of people experiencing homelessness say the killings are a A grim reminder of vulnerability and stigma Daily dealing with homeless people.
In New York City, nearly 50,000 homeless people was in shelters in December, according to the Coalition of the Homeless of New York. Last year, yes about 5,000 homeless people in Washington, under the Non-Profit Community Partnership Agreement.
Donations: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; Related press
