Manhunt expanded for suspect in Facebook video killing

CLEVELAND — Authorities in several states were on the lookout Monday for a man police say shot a Cleveland retiree collecting aluminum cans and then posted video of the apparently random killing on Facebook.

“He could be nearby. He could be far away or anywhere in between,” FBI agent Stephen Anthony said on Day 2 of the manhunt for Steve Stephens, a 37-year-old job counsellor for teens and young adults.

Police said Stephens killed Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old former foundry worker, on Sunday.

Investigators said that Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite the suspect’s claim in a separate video on Facebook that he killed over a dozen people. Officers searched dozens of places around the city and spoke with the suspect by cellphone, police said.

Police Chief Calvin Williams warned residents to be careful as the go about their day.

Authorities also warned people in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan to be alert for Stephens, who was wanted on a charge of aggravated murder.

Law enforcement officials said that the last place his cellphone signal was tracked was in Erie, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of Cleveland, on Sunday afternoon.

Godwin apparently was shot while out picking up cans in a plastic shopping bag, his daughter said.

“Not because he needed the money, it was just something he did,” said 52-year-old Debbie Godwin. “That’s all he was doing. He wasn’t harming anyone.”

She said her father, who had 10 children, was a gentle man with nothing mean about him. “We called him the junk man,” she said. “He’d pick up things off the street and fix them. He picked up bikes and he fixed them.”

The motive for the shooting wasn’t entirely clear from the shaky video, in which Stephens told Godwin a woman’s name and said, “She’s the reason that this is about to happen to you.” Godwin did not seem to recognize the woman’s name.

The suspect then pointed a gun at Godwin, who shielded his face with the plastic bag.

The video of the killing was on Facebook for about three hours before it was taken down.