Cleveland Police Seek Facebook Live Homicide Suspect
CLEVELAND (ABC NEWS)- Cleveland police were searching Sunday for a man who broadcast the fatal shooting of an elderly man on Facebook Live.
The suspect, identified as Steve Stephens, also boasted in the video about killing multiple people, but police said Sunday evening that there is only one victim.
Police said Stephens is armed and dangerous and should not be approached. He is driving a white Ford Fusion with temporary plates.
Stephens is described as a black man with a full beard. He is 6-feet-1-inches tall and 244 pounds. Stephens was last seen wearing a dark blue and grey or black striped polo shirt.
The elderly man who was shot in the video was apparently a random victim, police said.
“What happened today is senseless,” said Chief Calvin D. Williams, of the Cleveland Police Department, during a Sunday press conference.
Williams urged Stephens to reach out to local clergy with whom he already has a relationship with to facilitate turning himself into police. He said police are also working with his family.
In the video, Stephen claims to have committed 13-14 homicides. However, police said they have no evidence to support that after checking several locations.
“There are no more victims tied to Steve and this incident,” Williams said.
Williams said they have followed up on hundreds of leads since the incident occurred at 2 p.m. EST in the 600-block of East 93rd.
The FBI is assisting Cleveland police, as well as county and state officers. As a precaution, officers working in pairs.
Stephens is an employee at Beech Brook, a “leading behavioral health agency” in northeast Ohio. He is a member of their ACT (assertive community treatment) team.
“We learned about it (the shooting) this afternoon when someone saw it on FB and notified us. We are doing everything we can to help and help locate him. We are shocked and horrified,” said Nancy Kortemeyer, VP marketing and PR at Beech Brook.
