A man suspected in a string of attacks on homeless people across New York City and Washington, DC, has been arrested following a massive manhunt.
DC police announced the arrest early Tuesday morning after a $70,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture.
The suspect has not been named officially by authorities but was identified by law enforcement sources as Gerald Brevard III, a 30-year-old with a history of mental illness and an extensive rap sheet.
In this case he is accused of shooting at least five homeless men, including two fatally, over the course of two weeks.
Here’s everything we know so far:
Timeline of events
The earliest known shooting happened at around 4am on 3 March in Washington, DC, police said, when a man was shot and wounded in the city’s Northeast section. A second man was wounded on 8 March, just before 1.30am.
At 3am the next day, 9 March, police and firefighters found a dead man inside a burning tent. A subsequent autopsy revealed that the man had died of multiple stab and gunshot wounds.
The killer then apparently travelled north to New York City, police said.
At 4.30am on Saturday, a 38-year-old man sleeping on the street in Manhattan not far from the entrance to the Holland Tunnel was shot in his right arm as he slept.
The victim screamed and the gunman fled, police said.
About 90 minutes later, the gunman fatally shot another man on Lafayette Street in SoHo, police said. The man’s body was found in his sleeping bag just before 5pm on Saturday.
A potential sixth victim was shot while a vigil was held for the earlier victims, according to The New York Times, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Police determined that the same person committed the attacks based on the similarities of each shooting and evidence recovered from the scenes. The victims were attacked without provocation, police said.
Suspect arrested
The DC Police Department announced on Twitter early Tuesday: “Early this AM, law enforcement arrested the suspect in Washington, DC.
“He is currently being interviewed at our Homicide Branch. Additional information will be forthcoming. Thanks to the community for all your tips.”
No details about the suspect have been released, including his motive.
While authorities have not publicly named the suspect, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed his identity as 30-year-old Gerald Brevard III to the New York Times and Daily Beast.
The sources said Mr Brevard has an extensive rap sheet including several charges of assault in DC and Virginia. In one prior case in 2019, Mr Brevard was deemed mentally incompetent after a court-ordered evaluation and was placed in a psychiatric hospital, the Times reported.
Mr Brevard’s father, Gerald Brevard Jr, told Daily Beast he was “crushed” by the news of his son’s arrest.
“This has all come as a surprise. I never thought he would be violent,” he said. “He was always mild-mannered.”
The 80-year-old said the pair had spoken on Monday and Mr Brevard “did not say anything out of the ordinary”.
“It was a normal conversation. But he was dealing with mental illness for the longest time. He has been in and out of mental hospitals.”
Mr Brevard’s cousin, Dearell Charlie Brevard, also told Daily Beast he was “totally shocked” by the allegations.
“I was not aware of his arrest. I last saw him three months ago at a relative’s house. I am just in awe. I would never expect this at all from Gerald,” the cousin said, noting that he wasn’t particularly close with Mr Brevard but did see him recently.
“I need to call his dad! Find out what’s going on. I can’t believe this,” he added.
Police officials in New York City and DC did not immediately return The Independent’s requests for comment about the identity of the suspect on Tuesday morning
Homeless urged to seek shelter
Prior to the suspect’s arrest, homeless people in New York City and Washington, DC were warned to take shelter.
New York Mayor Eric Adams and his DC counterpart Muriel Bowser told residents without a fixed address to find shelter on Sunday.
“As our law enforcement agencies work quickly with federal partners to locate the suspect, we are also calling on unsheltered residents to seek shelter,” the mayors said in a joint statement. “Again, it is heartbreaking and tragic to know that in addition to all the dangers that unsheltered residents face, we now have a cold-blooded killer on the loose.”
Mr 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,” Mr Adams said at a news conference late on Sunday. “Two individuals were shot while sleeping on the streets, not committing a crime but sleeping on the streets.”
‘There will be no resource spared’
Both the NYPD and DC police department believe that five shootings in both cities are connected and that the similarities between the attacks as well as recovered evidence led them to believe the attacks are related.
“There will be no resource spared to locate and arrest the individual/s responsible for these incomprehensible acts of violence committed against our community members,” said Charlie Patterson of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said prior to the suspect’s arrest.
“ATF will utilize our expertise as we continue coordinating and combining efforts with our local, state and federal partners to ensure public safety is restored. Our condolences go out to the family members of those affected by this blatant disregard of human life.”
“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,” Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said in a news release.
On Monday, police announced that the reward for information leading to an arrest had been raised to $70,000.
Charities criticize Adams for subway sleeping policy
Homeless charities have spoken out against Mr Adams for allegedly endangering homeless people with his “zero tolerance” approach towards sleeping in the New York City subway system, which was introduced only last month with the help of police enforcement.
In a statement, the Coalition for the Homeless said two shootings in New York City on Saturday were “an urgent reminder that many unsheltered New Yorkers choose to bed down in the subways because that is where they feel the most safe in the absence of housing and low-barrier shelters”.
The coalition also called on Mr Adams to open 500 beds promised by his office last month, “instead of subway sweeps” of the roughly 1,000 people believed to sleep in the subway.
Vocal NY, another non-profit, added on Sunday that “the answer is permanent, safe, humane housing and care” and that the shooting spree was “the direct result of a growing reckless and hateful anti-homeless culture that has been allowed to exist by politicians and the media”.
Mr Adams, who called for an end to homeless sleeping on the subway following a rise in crimes on the transport system in 2021, said last month that “the vast majority of the unhoused and the mentally ill are not dangerous” to subway riders.
Shootings reminiscent of previous attacks
The attacks were reminiscent of the beating deaths of four homeless men as they slept on the streets in New York’s Chinatown in the fall of 2019. Another homeless man, Randy Santos, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in those attacks.
A year ago, four people were stabbed in New York City, two fatally, by a man who randomly attacked homeless people in the subway system. That assailant, who was also homeless, is awaiting trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
