A criminal investigation was launched Wednesday by police in Washington, DC, after authorities were alerted to a man experiencing homelessness who was later determined to have been beaten to death by a metal pipe near the White House.
Officials have indicated that one suspect has been taken into custody and that a weapon had been recovered from the scene. It was specified that the attack appeared to have occurred at the Ellipse Park, just south of the White House.
Officers have since reviewed surveillance footage showing the man was beaten to death at about 6:30 a.m., according to DC Assistant Police Chief Morgan Kane. The victim’s body was left in the park for about two hours after he had been murdered.
"A lot of people walking through here at 6:30 in the morning," said one man near the scene later on Wednesday. "Why nobody else ain't seen it?"
The man was murdered in the 200 block of 15th Street in Northwest DC, just steps from Freedom Plaza.
Crime scene in NW Washington DC
© Sputnik
"Whatever that location is, whether it’s next to the White House, whether it’s east of the Anacostia, wherever that looks like, it’s still tragic," Kane said. "There’s still someone who lost their life. There’s still a family that’s going to be devastated in those circumstanced. Equally devastating."
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
According to the Central Union Mission, more than 16% of residents in Washington, DC, are living in poverty as homelessness in the nation's capital is two times greater than the national average. The causes of homelessness are low wages, higher costs of living, and a lack of affordable housing.