Clad in all black, he then ran a block north and attacked two more men sleeping on a sidewalk, killing one. The second man barely staggered away with his life.
By the time a suspect was arrested, four homeless men had been killed and a fifth had been severely injured in a rampage that represented one of the most harrowing events in recent memory for New York City’s homeless population, which has been steadily rising.
Advocates say it is difficult to determine the exact number of homeless people living on the city’s streets, in the subways and in other public spaces, but it is thought to be in the thousands.
The attacks spread new anxiety among homeless people in the neighborhood. The area centers on the Bowery, which has a long history of sheltering people who are down on their luck. The five men were set upon just south of the Bowery Mission, one of the city’s oldest aid organizations.
Early Saturday, just steps away from the scenes of the killings, police officers spotted a 24-year-old man, also believed to be homeless, who fit the descriptions of the killer given by the survivor and other witnesses.
The suspect was identified as Rudy Rodriguez Santos, and he was expected to be charged Saturday afternoon with murder, according to a law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation.
Santos was captured on surveillance video approaching the locations where the attacks had occurred carrying a metal bar, the official said. At least one of the attacks was also recorded by a security camera.
When investigators showed him the video, Santos identified himself in the images but did not explicitly admit he had killed the men, the official said. Investigators repeatedly asked him why he had attacked the victims, but he refused to answer and then asked for a lawyer, the official said.
The fifth victim, who is 49 years old, was transported to the hospital with critical injuries, police said. Police said victims of the killings included an 83-year-old man and a 54-year-old man.
This article originally appeared in
.