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A 40-year-old Philadelphia man was charged Wednesday with killing five people in one of several shooting rampages across the nation that killed at least 15 people, injured more than 60 and cast a grim pall over Fourth of July festivities.
Kimbrady Carriker was ordered held without bail in connection with the shootings Monday night. Authorities say Carriker was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun and wore a bulletproof vest when he fatally shot one man at the man’s home in the Kingsessing section of Southwest Philadelphia. The suspect then began shooting at people “seemingly at random” on neighborhood streets before he was cornered in an alley and surrendered, police said.
The shooting was the nation’s 29th mass killing in 2023, according to a database maintained by USA TODAY, The Associated Press and Northeastern University. It’s the most on record for this time of year.
“I am frustrated and outraged that mass shootings like this continue to happen in communities across the United States,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Tuesday. “This country needs to reexamine its conscience and find out how to get guns out of dangerous people’s hands.”
Police found a will in Carriker’s name dated June 23 at the house he shared with seven roommates, one of whom said the suspect wore a tactical vest and grew increasingly agitated on the days before the shooting, prosecutors said. District Attorney Larry Krasner said he expected the defense to request an evaluation of Carriker’s mental health.
Other developments:
∎ Four people were killed and seven wounded in a shooting late Tuesday at a Fourth of July block party in Shreveport, Louisiana, authorities said. No arrests have been made, and Police Sgt. Angie Willhite said it was difficult to get details about what happened from people who were there. “We’re not getting a lot of cooperation,” Willhite said.
∎ Nine people were wounded, including two juveniles, in a shooting spree early Wednesday at a July Fourth celebration in Washington, D.C., said police, who called the shooting targeted and coming from a dark SUV seen driving through the neighborhood.
∎ One person was killed and six wounded in a shooting at a Fourth of July block party in Salisbury, Maryland.
∎ Three people were killed and eight wounded Monday night in Fort Worth, Texas, when “unknown males” began shooting into a crowd, police said.
∎ An overnight shooting in Hayward, California, left six people injured, including a suspected attacker who was arrested, according to police cited by KTVU-TV, which also reported two homicides in the city unrelated to that shooting.
∎ In the weekend before the Independence Day holiday, two people were killed and 28 injured when multiple shooters opened fire at a block party in Baltimore.
Youngest fatality in Philadelphia rampage was 15
The Philadelphia fatalities were Daujan Brown, 15, Lashyd Merritt, 20, Dymir Stanton, 29, Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, and Ralph Moralis, 59. Wamah was found inside a house and apparently was the first victim, authorities said.
A 2-year-old boy was wounded four times in the legs and his twin brother sustained eye injuries from shattered glass when the gunman shot their car. A 13-year-old youth was also wounded by gunfire, and a woman was injured by broken glass, prosecutors said.
Police said the shooter had a scanner to monitor police movement and extra ammunition magazines. The mayor thanked responding officers for limiting the bloodshed.
“That scene must have been chaotic,” Kenney said. “They were taking active fire, scooping people up, trying to get them to the hospital to save them. And our officers deserve our gratitude for their courage.”
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, speaking Wednesday on CNN, said Carriker appeared to have no connection to his victims. Krasner said Carriker had a “ghost gun” − an untraceable gun that can be bought online and often assembled at home.
Carriker may have obtained the AR-15 and the ghost gun illegally, Krasner said, adding that the investigation into the guns will take time in part “because the NRA has done a hell of a job trying to make it difficult for people to investigate the source of a weapon.”
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