How Cops Hunted Down the Accused Homeless Serial Killer
Law enforcement identified a suspect accused of gunning down five homeless men in Washington, D.C. and New York City over the past two weeks—killing two—after a tipster called police with the suspect’s phone number and Instagram handle, after which cops reviewed cellphone location data to place him at the scene of additional shootings, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.
Gerald Brevard III, 30, was arrested Tuesday by police in D.C., where three of the five attacks took place. Brevard, whose father told The Daily Beast that his son had been “dealing with mental illness for the longest time,” is charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Brevard’s arrest capped an intense multistate manhunt with a $70,000 reward for his capture. Cops believe Brevard was also behind two shootings of homeless men in New York City last weekend, in which one person died, but have not yet charged him with a crime. Brevard was unarmed when he was arrested, and investigators have not recovered a weapon. However, ballistics evidence has linked the D.C. and New York City shootings, according to authorities.
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