A man suspected of shooting multiple homeless men in New York City and Washington, D.C., killing two, has been apprehended, police in both cities have said.
Gerald Brevard, 30, was taken into police custody and questioned, NBC Washington reported. The Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. told NBC that a suspect has been apprehended and was being interviewed, but wouldn’t detail how he was caught. “A senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the case, however, says DC cops got a tip after releasing clear images and video of their suspect — and the NYPD got a tip about his name,” NBC reported. “Both tips helped track the suspect … down.”
The senior official told NBC that police officers followed the man before Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) took him into custody. The suspect was reportedly wearing clothes similar to those worn when he was caught on surveillance camera allegedly shooting the victims. The suspect had no weapon when he was taken into custody.
“Investigators are now looking into why the man was out roaming the streets of DC overnight once again, wondering if he planned any additional attacks despite not having a gun on him when he was found. In both New York cases, the official said the suspect walked around the block and pulled the trigger after scouting the area,” NBC New York reported.
New York and D.C. authorities worked together to find the suspect, NBC Washington reported. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams previously asked for the public’s help to find the shooter, whom they described as “depraved.”
“This is a cold-blooded attack. When you look at the premeditative action of this shooter, it sends a clear and loud message that we need the help from the public,” Adams said at a news conference.
The two mayors also warned homeless people in their cities about the danger and urged them to seek shelter. Police in D.C. even distributed flyers around where the shootings occurred.
“We know this is a scary situation. 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 at the conference.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, a series of shootings occurred this month in New York City and Washington, D.C., and authorities connected the same man to all of them.
The shooting spree began in D.C. on Thursday, March 3, at around 4 a.m. when police received a call from residents hearing gunshots. They discovered a wounded man with gunshot wounds who was then transported to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
A few days later, on March 8, police received another call about a shooting. Another wounded adult male was found with gunshot wounds and transported to a local hospital. He, too, had non-life-threatening injuries.
The next day, March 9, at around 2:54 a.m., a policeman in Northeast D.C. saw a fire and called D.C. Fire, who extinguished it. When the fire was put out, police found the remains of an adult male. An autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed and shot multiple times.
“In all three offenses, the victims appear to be individuals experiencing homelessness. The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating these cases as being related. The suspect was captured by a surveillance camera,” the D.C. police said in a statement.
Kevin Rincon, a reporter for CBS New York, said that the first attack in New York City occurred on Saturday, March 12. The next shooting occurred on Sunday.
“A day after two homeless New Yorkers were shot, one of them killed, another homeless man has been found dead near the WTC. Police say the 42-year-old man was known to them, and officers had spoken with him at 6 this morning. At around 6:30p he was found dead,” Rincon tweeted.