Authorities are hoping a reward will help them capture the man accused of shooting an elderly man at random Sunday and posting the grizzly footage on Facebook. Mayor Frank Jackson is asking anyone with information on Steve Stephens to come forward.
“There is an award of up to $50,000 for the arrest of Mr. Steve Stephens," Jackson says. "The money comes from the FBI, the ATF and the Marshal's Service.”
Jackson emphasizes that the aggressive manhunt, which has entered its third day, will continue. Authorities say it's now a nationwide search for 37-year-old Stephens, who's wanted on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting death of 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr.
Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams says authorities have already searched every location Stephens has been associated with in the Cleveland area.
Police say they don’t have any solid leads on where Stephens is, and they're urging him to turn himself in. He's considered armed and dangerous.
A vigil was held in Cleveland on Monday evening, with dozens of family, friends and community members gathering to remember Godwin . They carried flowers and balloons and hugged and comforted each other, while urging an end to the violence on their city streets.
On Monday evening, Facebook announced that it was launching a review for reporting harmful content following the killing. The company says it disabled Stephen's account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the video of the fatal shooting and two hours after receiving any report. Facebook says, "we know we need to do better."
