NYC Police Search For Suspect Who Shot 2 Sleeping Homeless Men, One Fatally

New York City police are seeking the public’s aid to help identify a gunman targeting homeless people.

The man, wearing a partial face covering, was captured on surveillance cameras shooting two sleeping homeless men in lower Manhattan early Saturday, one of them fatally. The other was shot in the arm and expected to recover, according to police.

The man who died was shot in the head and neck, police said. Surveillance video shows the gunman walking up to the man and firing bullets into his sleeping bag.

“Two individuals were shot while sleeping on the streets. Not committing a crime, but sleeping on the streets,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Saturday. He called it a “total abandonment and betrayal of trust.”

The “video is chilling, to see a cold-blooded act of murder,” Adams said. “The case is a clear and horrific intentional act of taking the life of someone, it appears, because he was homeless,” he added.

“All New Yorkers matter. We all matter,” Adams said.

Police have released photos of the gunman in the hope that someone may be able to identify him.

They were searching the streets late Saturday to make certain there were no other victims, and urging all homeless people to go indoors to shelters.