A police search is underway for the man wanted in connection to a string of stabbings across Manhattan. 

Police said the suspect they are looking for has a pattern: he targets homeless New Yorkers sleeping on city benches or resting in parks, stabbing them in the stomach or abdominal area.

“These are senseless acts on selfless people experiencing homelessness and somebody knows this person,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Tuesday afternoon during a news conference at police headquarters. “We need to get this killer off our streets as quickly and as safe as possible.” 

Police said the first stabbing occurred on July 5 at 3:10 a.m. at West and Christopher Streets in the West Village. The suspect approached a 34-year-old man sleeping on a bench, and fatally stabbed the man in the stomach, authorities said.

The victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

Police said surveillance video shows a male suspect, approximately 30 years of age, wearing a black sweatshirt that reads “innocence project,” black pants and a gray backpack.

Police said the footage also shows the suspect picking up a CitiBike and riding it around the block before returning to fatally stab the victim and take his black backpack. Authorities said the victim’s backpack was recovered. 

Police said the same suspect struck again on July 8 in Midtown, near East 49th Street and Madison Avenue, at 10 p.m. A 59-year-old man sleeping on a bench suffered a stab wound to the stomach, but survived the attack, according to police. 

Police said surveillance video captured before the attack shows the suspect, again dressed in all black, sitting on a bench for approximately 30 minutes while the victim is sleeping. The suspect then proceeds to stab the victim once before fleeing, police said at the news conference. 

Most recently, police said the suspect stabbed a 28-year-old man sleeping on a park bench Monday at 3:30 a.m. at the Stanley Isaacs Playground on the Upper East Side.

Police said that the victim was lying on the ground of the basketball courts when he felt what he described as a punch in the side. The victim chased the suspect, who was again wearing all black, but was unable to catch him due to his injuries. 

Police said they are working closely with the city Department of Social Services to ensure that homeless people are safe throughout the night and offered shelter.

“Our officers are out there engaging homeless individuals, particularly in the late-night hours, people who may be sleeping on the streets or sleeping on park benches, making sure that they are OK, showing them the photographs, alerting them to the danger that currently exists and trying to convince them to go into shelter,” NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said. 

At a separate news conference Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Eric Adams said investigators had "a few leads" they were following. 

"We will catch the person responsible, and it is unacceptable for an individual to attack a person that’s homeless or not homeless, and we are going to find this person responsible,” the mayor said.

Asked about the attacks, Harlem resident Taisha Barrera said it was "a little scary knowing there is someone killing other people around here, especially vulnerable people like the homeless."

John Pitts, who spoke with NY1 reporter Alyssa Paolicelli, said he has been experiencing homelessness lately, though he is currently staying at a shelter in East Harlem. 

“It makes me nervous,” Pitts said. “It is already bad enough we are homeless, but on top of that we have weirdos around here harming the homeless.”

“This person needs to be put away,” Pitts added. “This person probably has mental problems himself.”

It is the second time this year unhoused New Yorkers have been the victim to a string of targeted attacks. 

In March, authorities arrested a gunman who had been stalking homeless men asleep on the streets of New York City and Washington D.C., killing two people and wounding three others in less than two weeks.

Police are asking anyone with information that could aid in their investigation to contact 1-800-577-8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.