Police hunt for man in killing shown on live video
FATAL SHOOTING /
CLEVELAND — A manhunt is underway for a suspect who police say killed a man on the street Sunday while streaming it live on Facebook.
Law enforcement is searching the Cleveland area and beyond for Steve Stephens, the suspect police say walked up to an elderly man and shot him while on video, said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams.
The victim has been identified as 74-year-old Robert Goodwin Sr.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson publicly urged Stephens to turn himself in to police and not to “do any more harm to anybody.”
“Any problems he is having, we can have a conversation,” Jackson said.
In the video, Stephens said he “snapped” over a woman and claimed to have killed more than a dozen other people. Williams said police have not verified that information.
“There are no more victims that we know are tied to him,” he added.
The chief also said police have been talking with Stephens’ friends and family.
“What happened today was senseless,” Williams said.
Authorities say Stephens broadcast the video live on the social media network Sunday afternoon. It was up for about three hours before it was removed. Stephens’ Facebook page has also been removed.
The New York Times reported that in the minutelong shooting video, a driver pulls up close to an older man on a sidewalk. The driver asks the man to say a person’s name, then pulls out a gun and shoots him. Afterward, the victim can be seen lying on the sidewalk, with a streak of what appears to be blood near his head.
The shooting happened on East 93rd Street just south of the Interstate 90 in the city’s Glenville neighborhood, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia told Cleveland.com.
This is not the first time Facebook Live has been used to broadcast violence or death. In January, four people in Chicago were arrested after they allegedly beat and taunted a mentally disabled man live on the social media site. Then in March, a 15- year- old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said.
“This is a horrific crime, and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook,” said a spokesperson for Facebook.
Police said Stephens should be considered armed and dangerous.
Williams said Stephens may be driving a newer model white Ford Fusion, possibly with a temporary license plate. He is described as a black man with a bald head and beard, standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 240 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call 911.