The killer police say targeted homeless people in New York City and Washington D.C. is part of a disturbing trend: A growing number of unhoused people are being murdered in the city. 

The New York Police Department reported Tuesday morning that the man they believe has shot at least five homeless people in New York City and Washington D.C. since March 3 -- killing two -- has been arrested in Washington D.C.  They had not released further details Tuesday morning. 

Data compiled by city agencies shows that the killings are part of a larger pattern. Since 2018, the number of homeless people killed in New York City has increased 300 percent. Seven people were killed that year, 10 in 2019, then 11 in 2020, and finally 22 in the last fiscal year. It’s a trend that homeless advocates told The Washington Post holds true nationally, though there is no definitive national data. 

Advocates say the violence may be fed by a perception that homeless people are a nuisance or threat to the public.  In New York, high-profile incidents of violence on the subway, including the death of a woman pushed to her death by a homeless and mentally ill man, recently led Mayor Eric Adams to announce that police would move homeless people out of the transit system. The NYPD added about 1,000 officers to patrol the subways.

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