NEW YORK — The man police say shot and killed homeless people in New York City and Washington, D.C. has been identified as 30-year-old Gerald Brevard. Brevard, who lives in the Washington area, has a criminal history that includes an assault arrest, according to law enforcement officers. He was in custody Tuesday.

Police in the two cities earlier released multiple surveillance photographs, including a closeup showing the suspect’s face, and urged people who might know him to come forward. A tipster called police with information about his identity, officials said.

Law enforcement arrested the suspect in Washington, D.C., and he was being interviewed by police, the Metropolitan Police Department said on Twitter.

The mayors of New York City and Washington D.C. had appealed to the public for help Monday in the search for the gunman. Investigators acknowledged Monday, though, that they knew little about the suspected killer or his motive.

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, speaking together at a news conference Monday, had urged anyone living on the streets to go to city shelters where they might be safer.

“We know that our unsheltered residents already face a lot of daily dangers and it is unconscionable that anybody would target this vulnerable population,” Bowser said.

Adams said New York City police and homeless outreach teams would focus on finding unhoused people in the subways and other locations to urge them to seek refuge at city-owned shelters.

In Washington, city outreach workers were passing out flyers among the homeless population, urging people to “be vigilant” and featuring multiple pictures of the suspect.

Investigators in the two cities began to suspect a link between the shootings on Sunday after a Metropolitan Police Department homicide captain — a former resident of New York City — saw surveillance photos that had been released Saturday night by the New York Police Department while scrolling through social media.