Man Kills 2 People He Met On Grindr Dating App: Police

A Texas man is alleged to have murdered two men he met on the LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr, according to police.

Officers with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) covert unit arrested Jer Auntey Pleasant, 22, on Sunday following the murders of two men.

Two warrants for Pleasant's arrest were active after he was linked to the fatal shootings of Joseph Quinton West, 22, and Larry Wilson, 54.

Wilson was shot while driving a white Ford SUV near the Banyan Tree Apartments in the city at about 11 p.m. on April 14.

The following day, West was found dead at an apartment complex with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.

A SAPD Facebook post shared on Monday, April 24, said: "In both Murder scenes, fingerprints were found, identifying the suspect and placing him at each scene.

"There were also spent shell casings recovered at both crime scenes, linking the shell casings to the same weapon."

According to ABC affiliate KSAT-TV, Pleasant met the victims on the Grindr dating app before they were killed.

The police Facebook post continued: "In both murders the suspect had communication with the victims, using an online dating application prior to meeting with and committing the murders.

"The SAPD covert unit conducted surveillance on the wanted suspect, and were able to arrest the suspect who was found in possession of a handgun, that was the same caliber that was found at both murder crime scenes."

Pleasant has appeared before a magistrate and is being held in Bexar County Jail on a combined $700,000 bond, online court records say.

Newsweek has contacted the SAPD via email for comment.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings from across the country, eight people have been fatally shot in San Antonio this month.

The same database found 59 people have been fatally shot in San Antonio since January 1 this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 2,391 homicides in Texas in 2021.

It added that the Lone Star State had a death rate of 8.2 per every 100,000 people that same year.

There have been other instances across the country where people have been murdered after they were met on the Grindr dating app.

Talent A'christian Bradley, 19, who was accused of murdering two men he met through Grindr, died on December 27.

His death, which happened in a jail in Colombus, Ohio, was investigated by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office as an apparent suicide.

Bradley faced several charges in connection with the deaths of Robert Goodrich, 62, and Randy Gwirtz, 63.