NEW YORK — A homeless man wielding a long metal bar rampaged through New York City's Chinatown early Saturday attacking other homeless people who were sleeping, killing four and leaving a fifth with serious injuries, police said.
Two law enforcement officials identified the 24-year-old suspect as Randy Rodriguez Santos. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because criminal charges hadn't yet been finalized. Police responded to a 911 call just before 2 a.m. as one assault was in progress. They found one man dead in the street and a second with critical head injuries.The New York Post published photos of two of the victims under white sheets, one slumped in a blood-spattered doorway, the other on the sidewalk. The identities of the victims have not been released.
Another homeless man who had slept in the area, Stephen Miller, said he knew one of the victims as kind and quiet. "I never thought he would kill someone," she said."I was afraid of him, though, because he punched me. That's when I told him to get out of my house." New York City's homeless population has grown to record levels over the past decade, and the homeless remain among the most vulnerable residents. In the past five years, an average of seven have been slain each year.