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Officials from New York City and Washington D.C., on Monday urged those living on the streets to find shelter amid a series of shootings and killings that have targeted the homeless in both cities in recent weeks.
In a joint news briefing in D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded with the suspected shooter to turn himself in to authorities.
"Homelessness should not be a homicide," Adams said. "This was a cold-blooded attack."
Authorities in both cities have partnered with federal authorities, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to investigate the crimes. New images of the suspect were released Monday evening, including a close-up of his face.
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Authorities in New York City and Washington D.C., are looking for a suspect believed to be involved in the shooting and killing of homeless people in both cities in recent weeks. (MPD)
"We know that our unsheltered residents already face a lot of daily dangers and it is unconscionable that anybody would target this vulnerable population," Bowser said.
The most recent incidents occurred Saturday in New York. A 38-year-old man was shot in the arm while sleeping on the street around 4:30 a.m. and another died after being shot in the head and neck in a separate shooting, the New York Police Department said.
The suspect "looked around, made sure no one was there" before he intentionally "took the life of an innocent person," Adams said.
Between both cities, there have been five shootings and two homicides.
The first known shooting occurred on March 3 in Washington. Metropolitan police officers responded to a call of shots fired around 4 a.m. and found a man with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
On March 8, another homeless man was shot but survived. The next day, DC firefighters responded to a tent fire. Once the blaze was extinguished, a deceased man was found.
An autopsy revealed he sustained multiple stab and gunshot wounds and the death was ruled a homicide. Another incident involving the death of a homeless person in New York was not linked to the string of shootings, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
The cases were forensically connected after MPD Capt. Kevin Kentish of the homicide unit was scrolling through social media over the weekend and saw an image of the suspect released by the NYPD in connection with the shootings in New York, MPD Chief Robert Contee III said.
Kentish, a native of Queens, New York, reviewed the image with his team, who were investigating the homicide of the homeless person killed on March 8. The cases were connected afterward, the chief said.
Investigators believe one gun is linked to the cases. The suspect is not believed to be involved in any other crimes outside both cities, Contee said.
"We have a perpetrator who is mobile and has struck in at least two major United States cities, NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said.
The Metropolitan Police Department have launched a joint investigation with the New York Police Department for a suspect sought in at least 5 shooting incidents involving homeless victims in DC and NYC. (DC Police Department)
Contee was confident the "knot was tightening in" on the suspect.
"Turn yourself in and we're coming for you. That's the bottom line. Our reach is far and wide. And we're coming for you," he said.
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Investigators are not sure where the suspect lives or how and why he traveled to New York. A combined $70,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the suspect.