By Dennis Romero
Police in New York City and Washington DC released Sunday night that they are searching for a suspect in two recent murders and three other attacks on the homeless.
The latest violent events in which he is believed to be involved occurred early Saturday in New York:
two men sleeping on the streets were shot in separate attacks
, police from both cities said in a joint statement.
The first of those shootings occurred at approximately 4:30 am and left one man injured.
The second occurred around 6 am, but the victim was not discovered until late at night, when someone reported that there was a man in the street with gunshot wounds.
That victim was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
This homicide is one of two believed to have been committed by the same person, authorities said.
The other three attacks occurred in Washington, DC: a shooting at 4 a.m. on March 3, in which the victim survived, a shooting at 1:21 a.m. Tuesday in which the person attacked also survived, and one death on discovered Wednesday when a Metropolitan Police Department officer saw a tent that was on fire, according to the joint statement.
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After firefighters put out the fire, a body was discovered, police said.
The city medical examiner determined
the man died as a result of gunshot or stab wounds
.
The identities of the victims were not released.
Police said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would join in the search for a suspect.
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Authorities did not provide a written description of the man they believe to be the killer, but they did distribute screenshots taken from security video.
In a joint statement Sunday night, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said finding the suspect was a priority.
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“
It is heartbreaking and tragic to learn that, on top of all the dangers facing unsheltered residents, we now have a cold-blooded killer on the loose,
but we are confident we will get the suspect off the street and into police custody,” they said. mayors in a joint statement.
In December, Miami police announced the arrest of Willy Maceo Suarez, 25, on charges of murder and attempted murder of two homeless people who had been shot.
