LAPD asks for help in investigation into killings of 3 homeless people in last week

Police and prosecutors appealed Friday for the public’s help in identifying the killer who murdered three homeless men in the last week.

The killings occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 27, and 29 around downtown and in South Los Angeles, and LAPD Chief Michel Moore said while the motive is not known, the similarities between the attacks and the victims is clear.

“We know that the targeting is three individuals, sleeping alone, houseless, unsheltered, that were, we believe, by the evidence we have, were selected,” Moore said of the attacks.

At a Friday news conference, police shared an image from security video that may show the killer and a getaway car, although detectives did not specify from which scene the images were obtained.

A detailed description of the person sought in the killings was not available. The car was described only as a dark-colored sedan.

Moore stopped short of calling the attacker a serial killer.

“We have no evidence of disputes, altercations, of any type of articulation that would somehow say this was a spontaneous event,” Moore said, adding that there was no evidence the shootings were related to other crimes, like robberies.

The killings happened when the victims were alone on the street, Moore said. Two of the men were sleeping. A third was trying to charge his phone when he was shot.

Moore said detectives were looking through other recent reports of street violence to look for similarities, but so far, he said it appeared only these 3 shootings were connected.

“We have had additional shootings since Wednesday, but none of them have involved this type of violence,” he said.

People experiencing homelessness have represented an outsized number of murder victims in recent years. In January the I-Team reported that 24 percent of the victims of the 381 murders that occurred in Los Angeles in 2022 were described as homeless.

So far in 2023, LAPD data shows people who were considered homeless represented 15 percent of the city’s murder victims.

“This news is devastating,” Bass said at Friday’s news conference. “This is a killer who is preying on the unhoused.”

Bass said homeless outreach workers were being dispatched to check on encampments and urge those living on the streets to find somewhere safer to go until this killer is caught.

She urged members of the public who know someone who is homeless to try to contact that person as soon as possible.

“That’s why I appeal to all Angelenos, anybody that has a connection with someone who is unhoused, please contact them, go find them, call them, and tell them not to be alone tonight,” Bass said.

The LAPD set up a special hotline in order to share tips or other information about the case and the identity of the killer: 213-486-6890.