The Briefing:
- Five homeless white men between the ages of 22 and 70 have died from blunt-force injuries or stab wounds along a roughly one-mile section of the Lansing River Trail in Michigan's capital since October 2025 — all apparently attacked while sleeping beneath bridges in the predawn hours.
- One suspect, Edward Joseph Smith, 23, is charged with open murder in a single stabbing case; four homicides remain unsolved, and police have not confirmed whether all five deaths share a perpetrator.
- Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus publicly asked "Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?" at an October 2 press conference, triggering national coverage and a sharp escalation in trail security measures.
