The suspect believed to be responsible for the shooting of at least five homeless men in NYC and Washington, D.C., was at one time homeless himself, his grandfather said. NBC New York’s Checkey Beckford reports.
What to Know
- The suspected gunman sought in five targeted attacks on homeless people in NYC and Washington, D.C., in 9 days was taken into custody early Tuesday in DC, officials said
- Gerald Brevard III appeared in court in person for the first time Thursday on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of a 54-year-old in DC; he is a strong "person of interest" in the two Manhattan shootings, but has not yet been charged
- The first in the series of attacks happened in D.C. on March 3, while both in Manhattan came Saturday; two of the victims were killed, including a man found shot in NYC and one in a burning tent in DC
The 30-year-old man apprehended a day ago in the targeted shootings of five homeless men in New York City and Washington, D.C., appeared in court in person for the first time Thursday as his family sheds more light on the person at the center of the case.
So far, Gerald Brevard III, has been charged only in the three attacks in D.C., though the NYPD says he's a strong "person of interest" in the two Manhattan shootings. Two of the five victims died — one in each affected city.
Brevard was ordered held without bail after appearing before a judge in Washington on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 54-year-old Morgan Holmes, who was found shot and stabbed inside a burning tent in Washington this month.
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Prosecutors allege Brevard escalated his violence as he stalked and shot homeless people asleep on the streets of the two cities over a 10-day period. The earliest known shooting happened at around 4 a.m. on March 3 in Washington, police said, when a man was wounded in the city’s Northeast section.
A second man was wounded on March 8, just before 1:30 a.m. In that shooting, surveillance video captures a man yelling, “no, no, no” and “please don’t shoot” after a gunshot was fired, court documents say. The video shows the suspect a few minutes after the shooting sitting on a curb about a block away and playing music from a mobile device, according to the court papers.
In court Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Tanya Jones Bosier pointed to that allegation as one of multiple reasons to hold Brevard without bail, saying he is alleged to have played the music “as if there was some kind of amusement” after the shooting.
Around 3 a.m. the next day, police and firefighters found Holmes dead inside a burning tent. He initially was thought to have suffered fatal burns, but an autopsy revealed he had died of multiple stab and gunshot wounds. Surveillance video showed the suspect pouring gasoline into a cup at a gas station nearby about 30 minutes before the fire was discovered, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, the fatal shooting and the first incident occurred within one-half mile of each other and less than two miles from the second wounding.
"This is a disturbing escalation of violent behavior, particularly against individuals who are already vulnerable because they live on the street," assistant U.S. attorney Sarah Santiago said.
Brevard, she said, carried out "unprovoked attacks of people living on the streets."
Less than an hour after Holmes’ body was discovered, the suspect walked into Washington’s Union Station and stayed inside the station until he hopped aboard a train around 6:15 a.m., court papers say.
Police believe Brevard then traveled north to New York City. Surveillance video showed a man who investigators believe is Brevard at Penn Station in Manhattan around 3:30 a.m. on March 12.
About an hour later that Saturday morning, a man sleeping man on a sidewalk in Soho was shot, and about 90 minutes later, the gunman fatally shot another man on Lafayette Street, police said. The man’s body was found in his sleeping bag just before 5 p.m. Saturday.
Chilling video of one of the attacks sent shockwaves across the nation for its callous disregard for human life. New York City police said that the gunman shot the victims without saying a word or having any interaction with them, and D.C. police said they believe the three shootings were "very much consistent" with what was seen in NYC.
“He looked around. He made sure no one was there. And he intentionally took the life of an innocent person,” Adams said.
D.C. police confirmed there were ballistic links between the shootings, and said that all five of the shootings were linked back to the same gun.
The Washington man was arrested early Tuesday -- in the overnight hours, around 2:30 a.m., near a gas station in D.C., after officers staked Brevard out and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents took him into custody, with weapons drawn. Brevard had no weapon on him at the time, authorities and sources have said, but investigators want to know what he was doing out in the middle of the night -- and if he may have possibly been planning other attacks on the homeless.
A senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said DC cops got a tip after releasing clear images and video of their suspect — and the NYPD got a tip about his name. Both tips helped track the 30-year-old suspect down.
Investigators haven't shared any details on a possible motive in the deadly attack spree. Police are now contacting other cities to determine whether or not the suspect might be responsible for attacks elsewhere.
Officials said Brevard had multiple contacts in other states down south but no connections in New York of which they are aware. Brevard hasn't offered any inkling of a motive during interviews with detectives, and authorities believe he may have been randomly targeting the victims, Contee said.
His record includes at least one past assault on a woman in Virginia.
Court records show Brevard was arrested in July 2018 on assault charges and later pleaded guilty to attempted assault with a deadly weapon. He was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in June 2019. Records show Brevard was sent to St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric facility in DC. A month later, he was deemed competent to stand trial. Soon after, records show, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison. That sentence, however, was suspended.
The suspect's grandfather, Gerald Brevard Sr., said his grandson was once homeless, and he doesn't know why he would target others in such a vulnerable position.
"My grandson has suffered with mental problems for a while, so I just hate that anything like this happened," Brevard Sr. said. "I’m hurt. I’m (inaudible) and like I said, I offer my prayers and condolences to the victims."
Brevard Sr. declined to comment specifically on the case, but said, "I'm deeply saddened about the victims. Everyone that was injured and killed. My condolences to the families of the victims."
The accused killer's father also shared a statement of sympathy for the victims and their families -- and he blamed a "failure" of the system for not helping his son with the mental illness he has coped with over the years. Neither Brevard's father nor his grandfather went into detail on the nature of the illness they say afflicts him.
The latest attacks were reminiscent of the beating deaths of four homeless men as they slept on the streets in Chinatown in the fall of 2019. Another homeless man, Randy Santos, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in those attacks.
A year ago, four people were stabbed in New York City, two fatally, by a man who randomly attacked homeless people in the subway system. That assailant, who was also homeless, is awaiting trial.
