Four homeless men were killed and another person was injured around Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood during attacks that authorities believe took place while the men slept, New York City police said Saturday.
Investigators began making the grisly discoveries around 2 a.m. Saturday morning after receiving a call about an assault in the area. They initially found one man’s body and were approached by an injured 49-year-old man. Police later found three more bodies, and the injured man was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Details about what led to the attacks were not immediately clear. But police believe the victims were hit with a metal pipe as they slept after two witnesses told them that a man with a black jacket and pants used a metal object to strike the victims several times.
Police began searching the area and located a man fitting the suspect’s description around a quarter-mile away. The 24-year-old man, who officials believe also is homeless, is now in custody. An anonymous law enforcement official identified the suspect as Rudy Rodriguez Santos and indicated that he is facing charges for the killings after he was captured on surveillance video approaching some of the victims with the suspected murder weapon.
“The motive appears to be, right now, just random attacks,” said Michael Baldassano, the chief of Manhattan South Detectives. “No one was targeted by race, age, anything of that nature.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has struggled to address the problem of rising homelessness in the city, said in a statement via his office that resources will be dedicated to preventing similar tragedies in the future.
