05 July 2023 , 11:27
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The suspect in the brutal Philadelphia shooting that butchered five people and injured two more is set for arraignment later today.
Alleged shooter Kimbrady Carriker, 40, has not yet been charged, but is expected to face counts of murder. Aggravated assault and weapons charges are also expected, according to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom, the homicide unit commander, said witness interviews and video indicated that the suspect went to several locations in a ski mask and body armour, carrying an AR-15-style rifle.
"The suspect then began shooting aimlessly at occupied vehicles and individuals on the street as they walked," he said. "The vehicles included a mother driving her 2-year-old twins home, and one was wounded in the legs and the other hit in the eyes by shattered glass.
"On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening, this armed and armoured individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at their victims seemingly at random,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said on Tuesday.
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The victims were Lashyd Merritt, 22; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; Daujan Brown, 15; and Joseph Wamah Jr, 31.
Lashyd Merritt
Joseph Wamah (Facebook)Tributes online and in the media have poured in for the victims.
On Facebook, Anthony Joshua Brown said his friend Joseph was a "good dude."
Terrance Harden added: "It’s been a long time since I’ve cried this hard. I never said it but he was a really big influence on my life. During high school and after it was just me and him trying to make the best of our talents.
"I can honestly say I wouldn’t gone to such great heights and have gotten literally half the opportunities I did without his support."
Ralph Moralis' former partner Tamika Veney said the victim was "going to be missed" and was waiting the wedding of his eldest daughter this weekend.
“He did well by his family. He was a regular dude, a good person,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Dominque Evans, the brother of Lashyd Merritt, said he was shocked as he had only just stepped outside to go to a nearby store.
He said: "Just walked out of the house, I guess [the shooter] was right there and shot him twice.
"It's just sad, this is stuff you see on TV, not real life, that's why I'm so shocked."
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"You took my son. You took my baby," said his mother, Marie, to Action News.
Police on the scene of a shooting (Getty Images)Merritt's girlfriend Dreyanna Burnett added: "He was simply trying to go to the store to get something to eat... I had just got off the phone with him, and he was on break from work."
Two boys aged two and 13 were shot in the leg and are in stable condition. A woman, 33, was also injured by glass along with another two-year-old boy.
Both of the two-year-olds injured were twins and were in a car with their mum when shots came their way.
Investigators believe Wamah was the first victim killed, but he wasn't found by family members until hours later, Ransom said.
The suspect is believed to have acted alone and police said.
Kimbrady Carriker is expected to be arraigned today (Facebook)Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney renewed his oft-repeated call to “do something about America’s gun problem.”
“A person walking down the city street with an AR-style rifle and shooting randomly at people while wearing a bulletproof vest with multiple magazines is a disgraceful but all-too-common situation in America,” Kenney said. “I was today at Independence Hall where they wrote that Constitution, and the 2nd Amendment was never intended to protect this.”
Data from the Gun Violence Archive indicates there has been a total of 350 mass shootings in the US this year.