NYPD searching for suspect behind string of stabbings targeting homeless men
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for the suspect behind a string of stabbings targeting homeless people in New York City.
Detectives believe he injured two people and killed another. Each incident happened while the victims were lying on benches.
Investigators are combing through surveillance video and photos trying to track the suspect down. They say he's seen on video at the scene of three separate attacks.
The first incident happened around 3 a.m. on July 5 in the West Village. Police said a 34-year-old was stabbed with an unknown sharp object and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Then on July 8, a 59-year-old man was stabbed while sleeping on a bench at 49th Street and Madison Avenue in Midtown. He waited two days to seek medical attention.
The latest stabbing happened around 3 a.m. Monday on a basketball court by 95th and FDR Drive on the Upper East Side. The 28-year-old victim alerted police right away.
"Homeless people are people too," one person told CBS2's John Dias.
"Sad, very sad. Because they live there because they can't afford their rent," East Harlem resident Marcy Hernandez said.
Many were outraged to hear someone is targeting the city's most vulnerable.
"They're already hurt, they're already in pain and needing help," one person said.
"Someone with that kind of attitude, it's not part of the city," another person added.
Upper East Side resident Gopal Chopra said these kind of acts are not what the city stands for.
"If it's targeted in that way, he's not disturbed. It's deliberate, and that needs to be addressed," he said.
This all comes after another man was arrested in March for allegedly committing similar acts. Gerald Brevard was accused of shooting 5 men experiencing homelessness in New York and Washington, D.C., killing two of them.
"It's very frustrating to be back here talking once again about acts of violence committed against homeless New Yorkers," said Jacquelyn Simone, policy director for the Coalition for the Homeless.
Simone said this type of violence could be avoided if more single occupancy shelters were provided.
"That wouldn't have happened if someone was sleeping indoors in a room of their own," she said.
While the suspect is still on the run, investigators are trying to figure out a motive and determine whether the suspect is homeless himself.
Anyone with information about the attacks is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
