Three homeless men were fatally shot while sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles this week — and police believe a serial killer is behind the deadly spree.
The unknown assailant kicked off his deranged attacks on Sunday just after 3 a.m., when he killed a 37-year-old man sleeping in an alley in the Westmont neighborhood of the city.
The killer struck again nearly 24 hours later, this time targeting a 62-year-old man behind a building.
The third victim, a 52-year-old man, was killed around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
“The commonalities amongst these homicides are that each of the victims were in an open area, whether it be a sidewalk or an alley. They were alone,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.
“We believe a single individual approached each one and shot and killed each one as they slept … There are similarities in each of the three cases.”
Moore called the murderer’s spree a “series,” but declined to call the suspect a serial killer.
The suspect’s identity remains a mystery — police have only established that he is a “possible male” who was acting alone.
He was caught on surveillance footage wearing hooded clothing and driving a dark-colored sedan, the LAPD said.
The department established a 24/7 task force and a tip line to accelerate the capture of the homeless serial killer, and increased patrols in areas where people are known to sleep on the streets.
The city is working to open emergency shelters typically relegated to harsh weather to get as many homeless people off the street as possible
City personnel are also flooding the streets to encourage homeless people to seek shelter or to at the minimum stay in groups until the assailant is apprehended.
“Our message to the unhoused community is clear: do not sleep alone tonight. Seek shelter, seek services stay together, seek support,” said Mayor Karen Bass.
“This is individuals, not encampments, that are being preyed on.”
The homeless serial killer scare comes more than 20 months after Gerald Brevard III was charged with stalking and assaulting unhoused people in the Big Apple and Washington, DC.
Brevard — who was also homeless — allegedly attacked three separate homeless people as the slept on they streets of the major metro areas.
He seriously injured two of his victims and killed one, investigators allege.
