Police arrest suspect in shootings of homeless in Washington, DC and New York

[March 15, 2022]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Law enforcement authorities early Tuesday morning arrested a suspect in connection with shootings of homeless people in Washington, D.C., and New York, the police department in Washington said in a post on Twitter.

"Early this AM, law enforcement arrested the suspect in Washington, DC. He is currently being interviewed at our Homicide Branch," the Metropolitan Police Department wrote. It added more information will come but gave no other details.

Authorities had been searching for a lone gunman whom they said was linked by forensic evidence to the shooting of five homeless men in the two cities.

The shootings targeting homeless men began on March 3 when Washington's Metropolitan Police officers were alerted to sounds of gunshots on New York Avenue at about 4 a.m. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

On March 8, police in that city found another homeless man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

A woman walks with balloons by an area where NYPD police have marked off an area where a 43-year-old man was found dead on Sunday evening in New York City, U.S., March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The following day, police spotted a tent fire on New York Avenue and found a deceased homeless man inside. Further investigation determined that he had suffered multiple stab and gunshot wounds.

Three days later, a 38-year-old man was shot in the arm in New York City's lower Manhattan.

A short time later, police responded to an emergency call about a man suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and neck, and found the victim dead inside a sleeping bag on Lafayette Street.

Police said a sixth victim initially thought connected to the attacks had been ruled as an unrelated medical incident.

The violence comes amid a rise in violent crime in both cities and a spate of seemingly random attacks in New York City.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama)

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