2022 Northeastern U.S. serial shooter

Last updated

2022 Northeastern U.S. serial shooter
Details
Victims2 killed, 3 wounded
Span of crimes
March 3, 2022 –March 12, 2022
Country United States
State(s) Washington, D.C., New York
Date apprehended
One suspect arrested

In March of 2022 Gerald Brevard allegedly shot five homeless men in Washington, D.C., and New York City , wounding three and killing two. Shortly before midnight on March 13, 2022, the New York and District of Columbia police departments announced that they believed a single person was responsible for the attacks. [1] The fatal shooting in New York City, caught on tape, shows a man inspecting a homeless man sleeping on a sleeping bag on a sidewalk cornering a building or outpost[ clarification needed ], then pointing a gun towards the man's upper body and opening fire.

Contents

On March 15, Gerald Brevard, a 30-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., was arrested in connection with the attacks. [2] Authorities suspect that the attacks could possibly have targeted homeless individuals, although it has not yet[ when? ] been officially ruled as the main motive by any authority figures, nor were any hate crime charges filed.

Attacks

One man was shot on March 3 at around 4:00 am and another shot on March 8 around 1:20 am, [3] with both attacks occurring in Northeast Washington, D.C., and the injuries described as non-life-threatening. On March 9, an officer responding to a tent fire discovered a man dead inside due to multiple gunshot and stab wounds. The man was later identified as 54-year-old Morgan Holmes. [4] [2] [5]

Then, on March 12, a man was shot in the arm in New York City while asleep at about 4:30 a.m., the victim woke up and screamed at the man "What are you doing?" before the shooter fled the scene. Later another man was found dead with gunshot wounds to his head and neck, with video footage of the attack showing the attacker approaching the victim and kicking him several times before opening fire. Witnesses reported gunfire around 6:00 a.m. The victim was identified as Gambian native Abdoulaye Coulibaly. [6] [7] [5]

Investigation

Police initially connected the killings after a Metropolitan Police Captain from Queens recognized the man's photo from an investigation in Washington. Federal investigators from the ATF compared the shell casings and confirmed they were similar. [8]

Both the New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that they were coordinating with federal authorities to fully investigate the crimes. [9] The New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced on March 13 that they were opening a joint investigation into the shootings, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). [3] [4] Authorities have offered a number of rewards for information resulting in an arrest; MPD offered a reward of $25,000, NYPD offered a reward of $10,000, and the ATF Washington Field Division offered $20,000. [10]

Police in Washington D.C. released a video of the suspected perpetrator and passed out flyers around the area of the shootings and Mayor Bowser announced to reporters that the shootings were connected, due to ballistic evidence. [11]

On March 15, 2022, ATF investigators in Washington, D.C., arrested a 30-year-old male suspect in connection with the shootings. Police say they had earlier received a tip from someone who recognized the suspect. [12] [2] [13]

Response

Adams and Bowser released a joint statement calling the shootings "heartbreaking and tragic" and the perpetrator a "cold-blooded killer". NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell noted the vulnerability of the homeless population and that the police would use any tool and method available to arrest the perpetrator. [6]

Adams announced a task force to help identify homeless individuals in subways and other locations and provide information and safe locations at city shelters. [10] However, many of the homeless population refused to enter shelters claiming that the shelters offered were unsafe and unsanitary due to lack of resources provided towards upkeep and other homeless individuals. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D.C. sniper attacks</span> 2002 series of coordinated shootings in the Washington, D.C. area

The D.C. sniper attacks were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred during three weeks in October 2002 throughout the Washington metropolitan area, consisting of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and preliminary shootings, that consisted of murders and robberies in several states, lasted for six months starting in February 2002. Seven people were killed and seven others were injured in the preliminary shootings, and ten people were killed and three others were critically wounded in the October shootings. In total, the snipers killed 17 people and wounded 10 others in a 10-month span.

Lee Boyd Malvo, also known as John Lee Malvo, is a convicted murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 2002. Malvo was aged 17 during the span of the shootings. Currently, he is serving multiple life sentences at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia, a supermax prison. Muhammad was executed in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Park Police</span> Uniformed federal law enforcement agency

The United States Park Police (USPP) is one of the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York City areas and certain other government lands. United States Park Police officers have jurisdictional authority in the surrounding metropolitan areas of the three cities it primarily operates in, meaning they possess both state and federal authority. In addition to performing the normal crime prevention, investigation, and apprehension functions of an urban police force, the Park Police are responsible for policing many of the famous monuments in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Russel Timoshenko</span> 2007 murder of a New York City police officer

Russel Timoshenko was a 23-year-old New York Police Department (NYPD) police officer who was shot on July 9, 2007, and died five days later, after pulling over a stolen BMW automobile in New York City's Crown Heights, Brooklyn, neighborhood. After a four-day manhunt that stretched across three states, all three suspects Dexter Bostic, Robert Ellis and Lee Woods were eventually apprehended and convicted—two of murder, and the third for weapons possession. At his widely attended funeral, Timoshenko was posthumously promoted to the rank of Detective. The case garnered national media attention because the weapons used were all illegally obtained handguns. This sparked widespread debate over gun control laws in New York City, and over the process by which firearms are traced by police departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Bowser</span> Mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician serving since 2015 as the mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct</span> Overview of misconduct and corruption in the NYPD

Throughout the history of the New York City Police Department, numerous instances of corruption, misconduct, and other allegations of such, have occurred. Over 12,000 cases have resulted in lawsuit settlements totaling over $400 million during a five-year period ending in 2014. In 2019, taxpayers funded $68,688,423 as the cost of misconduct lawsuits, a 76 percent increase over the previous year, including about $10 million paid out to two exonerated individuals who had been falsely convicted and imprisoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Harlem mosque incident</span> 1972 shooting in New York City

The 1972 Harlem mosque shooting occurred on April 14, 1972, when a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer was shot and fatally wounded at the Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, United States. The officer responded to a fake emergency call, but was shot and died from his wounds six days later. The incident sparked political and public outcry about mishandling of the incident by the NYPD and the administration of Mayor John V. Lindsay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star (dog)</span>

Star was a mixed-breed female pit bull who was shot by the New York City Police Department in 2012 while she was protecting her homeless owner who was in the midst of a seizure. Star's shooting was captured on video, and went viral, leading to controversies over police handling of companion dogs. Star was born in the Bronx, New York on March 1, 2011.

On December 20, 2014, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot and killed Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu — two on-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers — in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Brinsley then fled into the New York City Subway, where he died by suicide. Earlier in the day, before he killed Ramos and Liu, Brinsley had shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson in Baltimore after initially pointing the gun at his own head.

Local protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area quickly spread nationwide in more than 2,000 cities and towns, as well as over 60 countries internationally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In Minneapolis, destruction of property began on May 26, 2020, with the protests involving vandalism and arson. Demonstrations in many other cities also descended into riots and widespread looting. There was police brutality against protesters and journalists. Property damage estimates resulting from arson, vandalism and looting ranged from $1 to $2 billion, eclipsing the highest inflation adjusted totals for the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 New York City Subway attack</span> Mass shooting in New York City

On the morning of April 12, 2022, a mass shooting was committed on a northbound N train on the New York City Subway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York, United States. At approximately 8:24 a.m. EDT, a man reported to be 62-year-old Black nationalist Frank Robert James put on a gas mask, threw two smoke grenades, and fired a handgun 33 times. The shooting occurred as the train was traveling between the 59th Street and 36th Street stations.

Larme Price, known as the Thrill Killer, is an American serial killer who murdered four immigrants in New York in 2003. Price claimed he carried out the murders in revenge for the September 11 attacks, and said he was driven to kill by a paranoid hatred of Arabs. Despite this claim, only one of his victims was Middle Eastern. Price confessed to the murders, was found guilty, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison without parole. He remains incarcerated at the Sullivan Correctional Facility.

References

  1. ↑ Marino, Joe; Celona, Larry; Moore, Tina; Garger, Kenneth (March 14, 2022). "Gunman shot at least 5 homeless men while they slept in NYC and DC: cops". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Morales, Mark (March 18, 2022). "A victim begged for mercy before Gerald Brevard allegedly pulled the trigger, surveillance footage shows". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Lyons, Ivy; Barlow, Joshua (March 14, 2022). "DC police, NYPD, ATF investigating string of shootings, homicides targeting men who are homeless". WTOP News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Archie, Ayana (March 14, 2022). "New York, D.C. police open joint investigation into recent shootings of homeless men". NPR. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Newman, Andy; Robertson, Campbell; Asma-Sadeque, Samira; Southall, Ashley (March 21, 2022). "Behind the Killings of Homeless Men, Portraits of 3 Lives Derailed". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Miller, Ryan W. (March 14, 2022). "5 shot after 'cold-blooded killer' targeted homeless men in Washington, New York City". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ Caina Calvan, Bobby (March 24, 2022). "Not forgotten: Community honors homeless man killed in NYC". Associated Press. Retrieved April 26, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ Maxouris, Christina (March 16, 2022). "A detective scrolled through social media. What he noticed helped catch a person wanted for shooting homeless men in 2 cities". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  9. ↑ Marino, Joe; Celona, Larry; Garger, Kenneth; Lungariello, Mark (March 14, 2022). "Mayors urge homeless to get off streets as 'cold-blooded killer' stalks NYC, DC". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Yang, Maya (March 14, 2022). "Police seek man accused in killings of homeless people in New York and Washington DC". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ Moore, Jack (March 14, 2022). "Bowser says shootings of homeless men in DC, NY linked through ballistics". WTOP News. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ Heavey, Susan (March 15, 2022). "Police arrest suspect in shootings of homeless in Washington, DC and New York". Reuters. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  13. ↑ Newman, Andy; Southall, Ashley; Robertson, Campbell (March 15, 2022). "Suspect in Shootings of 5 Homeless Men Arrested in Washington". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Hogan, Gwynne (March 15, 2022). "As killer terrorized, some unhoused New Yorkers still preferred streets over shelters". Gothamist. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.