The DC and NYC Homeless Shootings
Morgan Holmes and Four Others
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Morgan Holmes was 54 years old and experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. He was killed on March 9, 2022, inside a tent on the 400 block of New York Avenue NE, where he had been sleeping. He is the only fatality in this five-victim attack spree who has been publicly identified.
The remaining four victims were all men experiencing homelessness, targeted while sleeping on the streets of Washington, D.C. and Manhattan over a nine-day period. Three survived their injuries. The fifth victim, killed in Manhattan on March 12, 2022, has never been publicly identified.
| Date | Location | Outcome |
| March 3, 2022 | Mount Olivet Street NE, Washington, D.C. | Survived, gunshot wounds to lower back and arm |
| March 8, 2022 | 17th and H Streets NE, Washington, D.C. | Survived, multiple gunshot wounds |
| March 9, 2022 | 400 block, New York Avenue NE, Washington, D.C. | Killed, identified as Morgan Holmes, 54 |
| March 12, 2022 | Lower Manhattan, New York City | Survived, gunshot wound to the arm |
| March 12, 2022 | Howard Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City | Killed, never publicly identified |
A Nine-Day Spree Targeting Sleeping Men
According to charging documents, the first attack occurred around 4 a.m. on March 3, 2022, when a man sleeping in Northeast Washington, D.C. was shot twice in the lower back, sustaining a graze wound to his arm. He survived. A second attack followed just before 1:30 a.m. on March 8 at 17th and H Streets NE, where a witness told police they saw the gunman fire a single shot at a man seated in a lawn chair; the man screamed and ran, and the gunman allegedly pursued him, firing several more times. Surveillance audio captured the victim saying "no, no, no" and "please don't shoot." He survived with wounds to the head, face, chest, thigh, buttock, and hand.
On March 9, just before 3 a.m., D.C. firefighters responded to a tent fire on the 400 block of New York Avenue NE and found a man, later identified as 54-year-old Morgan Holmes, dead inside with severe burns. The Chief Medical Examiner determined Holmes had also suffered multiple gunshot and stab wounds prior to the fire and ruled his death a homicide. Surveillance footage from the scene captured the sound of music playing on a mobile device shortly after the shooting.
The spree continued in New York City on March 12. Just after 4:30 a.m., a man sleeping on a street in Lower Manhattan was shot in the arm and survived, later describing his attacker to police. Hours later, NYPD responded to a second location less than a mile away on Howard Street, where they found a second homeless man dead. Ballistic analysis, coordinated between NYPD and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, determined that .22-caliber shell casings recovered from both New York shootings and all three D.C. shootings had been fired from the same weapon, each casing marked with the letter "C" on the headstamp.
Investigators have stated they believe the attacks were premeditated, with little to no interaction between the shooter and his victims before each attack. As of the most recent court proceedings, prosecutors have not been permitted to publicly confirm a motive, though a D.C. grand jury has alleged the attacks were bias-related hate crimes targeting people experiencing homelessness.
Nine Days, Two Cities
A Cross-Jurisdiction Manhunt
D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department and NYPD initially investigated their respective shootings separately before a D.C. detective drew a connection to the New York attacks in the press. Microscopic testing on shell casings recovered from all five scenes determined they had been fired from the same .22-caliber weapon, each marked with a distinctive "C" headstamp, formally linking the cases across jurisdictions.
Officials in both cities released surveillance images of the suspect and offered a combined $70,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The break in the case came when a tipster who knew Brevard personally, through a woman with whom he had a child, contacted police and confirmed his identity from the released photos, along with his phone number and social media handle.
Official statements and case documents:
Gerald Brevard III
Gerald Brevard III has been charged in connection with a nine-day series of shootings targeting men sleeping outdoors in Washington, D.C. and New York City in March 2022. He has not been convicted of any charge related to this case and is presumed innocent unless and until a verdict is reached. His attorney has stated the defense will not pursue an insanity or criminal responsibility exam and intends to proceed with the case as charged. This page will be updated as proceedings continue.
Brevard's family has stated publicly that he struggled with mental illness for years and had previously experienced homelessness himself. A 2019 court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, conducted in connection with an earlier assault charge, diagnosed him with bipolar disorder while also finding him competent to stand trial at that time. His criminal record dates back to at least 2013 and spans Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, including charges for assault, burglary, theft, and abduction with intent to defile. Several of these prior cases were resolved through plea agreements, suspended sentences, or probation rather than significant incarceration.
Brevard's family has publicly stated they believe he was let down by a justice system that repeatedly encountered him without adequately addressing his documented mental illness across these earlier cases.
This is documented background from court records and his family's public statements, not an explanation for the crimes he is charged with, and he has not been convicted. It is included because a documented diagnosis of serious mental illness, combined with a pattern of repeated system contact resolved short of sustained treatment, is a recognized risk factor researchers studying violence prevention consider relevant, not proof of what happened in this specific case.
Context Around This Case
Morgan Holmes and an Unnamed Victim
Morgan Holmes was 54 years old when he was killed while sleeping in a tent that should have offered him some measure of shelter and safety. Officials in both Washington and New York spoke of the vulnerability of the population targeted in this spree, people who had already lost so much, sleeping outdoors with little protection from the world around them. A second man, killed in Manhattan just days later, was never publicly identified at all, a final indignity layered on top of everything else he had already lost. Both men deserved to be seen as more than statistics in a manhunt. They are remembered here, by name where a name exists, and by presence where it does not.
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