Killings of homeless men in NYC and DC elicit 'shock and horror.' What needs to change?

NEW YORK — Four men were beaten to death by another homeless man as they slept on a street in 2019. Last year, a man with a history of psychiatric problems stabbed four people sleeping in the subway, killing two.

And, now, at least five homeless men have been shot, two fatally, in a series of attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

The killings are a grim reminder of the vulnerability and stigmatization facing the homeless population on a daily basis, advocates say.

People experiencing homelessness are far more likely to be the victims of crimes than perpetrate crimes themselves, and many face other threats beyond physical violence, including access to health care and extreme weather, said Jesse Rabinowitz, senior manager of policy and advocacy at the Washington-based Miriam’s Kitchen.

"These horrific and senseless murders and attacks on unhoused people underscore what we've known for years, which is that people experiencing homelessness are at a greatly increased risk of death and injury," Rabinowitz told Paste BN.

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Police in New York and Washington on Sunday linked the recent string of violence. One man was killed and two wounded in three separate shootings earlier this month in the nation's capital, and one man was killed and another wounded in two shootings on Saturday in New York City. A suspect in the attacks was arrested in Washington on Tuesday, officials said.

"We know that our unsheltered residents already face a lot of daily dangers, and it is unconscionable that anybody would target this vulnerable population," Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington said in a joint press conference Monday with New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Tony Burns, 63, a district resident who began experiencing issues with homelessness after he was diagnosed with HIV more than 30 years ago, said he's been following news reports of the attacks.

"I was in shock and horror because I couldn't believe it," Burns told Paste BN.

People experiencing homelessness "are at substantially increased risk" of being the victim of a crime, especially a violent crime, according to a 2020 study published in The Lancet. People with both a psychiatric diagnosis and experience of homelessness had the highest risk of being the victim of a violent crime, the study found.

Researchers used data from several national registries in Denmark and found that, in the five years after a person's first contact with a homeless shelter, women were 23% more likely than the general population to be the victim of a crime, and men were 16% more likely to be the victim of a crime.

A 2014 survey of people experiencing homelessness in five U.S. cities reached a similar conclusion.

"To think that you could be sleeping on a bench, or even at a shelter or an encampment, and that someone would stab you or shoot you, I don't think it gets any worse than that," Burns said.

More than 326,000 people experienced sheltered homelessness in the U.S. on a single night in 2021, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That means they were in emergency shelters, transitional housing or other temporary settings.

It was not immediately clear how many people experienced unsheltered homelessness in 2021, as the department waived the requirement for communities to count the population due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For reference, more than 580,000 people experienced homelessness on a given night in 2020.

In New York City, nearly 50,000 people experiencing homelessness were in shelters in December, according to New York's Coalition for the Homeless. Last year, there were about 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in Washington, according to the nonprofit Community Partnership.

Both cities, however, saw declines in homelessness in 2021 compared to 2020. The Community Partnership in D.C. said the drop was due to efforts to use motels as emergency shelters and find permanent housing for families.

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Addressing homelessness has become a focal point of public safety efforts in New York City after a number of targeted attacks against women of Asian descent. Men experiencing homelessness are accused of killing Michelle Alyssa Go and Christina Yuna Lee earlier this year in separate incidents. Go was pushed to her death in front of a train.

Adams released a public safety plan last month to address safety in the city's sprawling subway system, one of his first major actions after being sworn into office Jan. 1. The plan largely focused on homelessness, but homelessness and mental health advocates said it relied too heavily on law enforcement.

Under the plan, people on subway trains at the end of lines would be forced to leave, rather than be asked to leave, as was the old policy. Advocates argued the policy will result in more people being led away from subway cars in handcuffs.

Adams has also faced some criticism for his comments during a news conference unveiling the plan: "You can't put a Band-Aid on a cancerous sore," he said at the time.

Asked about the plans for subways Monday, Adams said New York is "not going to allow the residents of our city to be in a position where they can't take care of themselves or they're dangerous to others."

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In Washington, the city last year launched a pilot program to provide some residents with vouchers for temporary housing. City officials have also permanently cleared some homeless encampments, prompting outcry from advocates who say the actions left people with nowhere to go.

"We know that we can offer people permanent housing, and we can offer them shelter," Bowser said Monday. "We will continue the very successful pilot programs that we started in the district."

Rabinowitz said investments in long-term solutions like permanent supportive housing are needed to end homelessness.

"It shouldn't take people getting murdered to get our elected officials and our neighbors to care about ending homelessness. This needs to be a priority for our elected officials every day because everybody deserves safety regardless of their housing status," Rabinowitz said.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday announced $2.6 billion in awards for about 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs across the U.S.

Paste BN is looking to include the voices of people experiencing homelessness in its coverage. If you or a loved one is experiencing homelessness and want to share your experiences, please reach out to Ryan Miller and Grace Hauck at rwmiller@usatoday.com and ghauck@usatoday.com.