An affidavit filed Tuesday lays out the cops’ frantic search for Gerald Brevard III, who allegedly attacked a series of homeless men, killing two, in New York City and D.C.
Gerald Brevard III, 30, was arrested Tuesday by police in D.C., where three of the five attacks took place. Brevard,“dealing with mental illness for the longest time,” is charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
According to the initial police report, the victim told cops the suspect, whom he described as a Black man in his 30s or 40s wearing a black sweatsuit and armed with a black handgun, ran away after shooting him. When they got there, officers “found the victim… alongside a construction site on the southeast corner of 17th and H Streets suffering from multiple gunshot wounds,” states the affidavit, adding that the target “sustained gunshot wounds to the head, face, chest, thigh, buttock, and hand.” His injuries were so extensive that detectives have not been able to interview him, and the unnamed man remains hospitalized, the filing says.
After firefighters extinguished the blaze, first responders discovered the remains of a 54-year-old homeless man, Morgan Holmes. He had been stabbed multiple times and shot at least twice, and was pronounced dead at 3:27 a.m. “Officers located and recovered five .22 caliber cartridge casings,” the affidavit says. “Each of the casings had the letter ‘C’ on the headstamp.”“The distance between the two shootings in New York, N.Y. is less than one mile,” notes the affidavit.One tipster “specifically named… Brevard as the person depicted in images publicly released,” the affidavit says.
Investigators subpoenaed Instagram to make sure they had the correct phone number for Brevard, then subpoenaed his cellular provider to get location data for Brevard’s phone.