Washington police arrest suspect in shootings of homeless men

Washington (AFP) - Washington police arrested a suspect on Tuesday over the shooting of five homeless men in the US capital and in New York, officials said.

Two men were killed and three wounded in the shootings that took place over the past 10 days, with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and her New York counterpart Eric Adams calling the perpetrator a "cold-blooded killer."

Police said the suspect in the shootings was being interviewed by law enforcement in a tweet early on Tuesday.

Authorities have offered large cash rewards for information that leads to the killer's arrest with police releasing images of a shaven-headed and bearded male suspect dressed all in black.

The first shooting took place in the early hours of March 3 in northeast Washington. The victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to officials.

A second homeless man was shot and wounded five days later, also in northeast Washington, police said. He also suffered non-life-threatening wounds.

The next day, a homeless man was found dead in northeast Washington with stab and gunshot wounds, police said. His tent, where he had been living, had caught fire.

On Saturday, a 38-year-old man was shot in the arm in Lower Manhattan during the night, police said.

About a half-hour later, police found the lifeless body of another man in a sleeping bag in the same neighborhood. He had been shot in the head and neck.

New York police commissioner Keechant Sewell decried the attacks.

"Our homeless population is one of our most vulnerable and an individual preying on them as they sleep is an exceptionally heinous crime," Sewell said earlier this week.