Suspect wanted after shooting, killing a man during Facebook Live stream
Posted Apr 16, 2017 8:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Cleveland police are searching for a homicide suspect who broadcast the fatal shooting of another man live on Facebook.
Police have identified the victim as 74-year-old Robert Goodwin Sr.
Police say Steve Stephens shot Goodwin on Sunday afternoon while he was recording live on Facebook.
Police say the man broadcast another video of himself later on the social media network claiming he had killed other people.
Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia tells cleveland.com that police haven’t verified any slayings besides the one Sunday afternoon in the city’s Glenville neighbourhood.
The video of the killing was posted on Facebook for about three hours before it was removed. His Facebook page apparently was deactivated later Sunday afternoon.
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. “We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety.”
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams is urging Stephens to turn himself in and not to “do anymore harm to anybody.”
Police say Stephens should be considered armed and dangerous.
Williams said Stephens may be driving a newer model white Ford Fusion. Anyone with information is
