Authorities in San Diego are searching for a man suspected of killing and burning homeless men in their sleep.
The burned body of one homeless man was found on Sunday in San Diego’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The body was so badly charred that authorities could not determine whether he had suffered any trauma before being consumed by flames.
Witnesses say they saw a man running with a can of gasoline within two blocks of the crime.
Two more attacks occurred in different locations early Monday morning, according to the San Diego Police Department. One died after sustaining wounds to his upper torso in Robb Athletic Field, near a tennis court.
The other man was found with a stab wound near the city’s Midway neighborhood, but he survived. He was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.
Police have released low-resolution images of the suspected killer from convenience store footage and urged the public to help them identify him. Witnesses described him as being between 40 and 50 years old, wearing a brown jacket or sweatshirt and a baseball cap, police said. He was carrying a backpack.
LAPD wants more 'compassion & empathy' from officers interacting with homelesshttps://t.co/J8jCkiuosz pic.twitter.com/yMDxD2R6KB
— RT America (@RT_America) June 23, 2016
These crimes are tragic and the fact that the victims are homeless makes it even worse because they likely have no way of protecting themselves. These men were burned and killed in their sleep which means they never had a chance to fight back, but hopefully also means that they did not suffer. Though the images released of the suspect are a bit blurry, let’s hope that someone has some information that will stop this killer before he claims another victim.