Update: July 4, 12:45 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police said a man in a bulletproof vest armed with two guns and extra magazines killed five people and injured two children, seemingly at a random, in a mass shooting in Kingsessing Monday night before surrendering to authorities.
Gunfire erupted near 56th Street and Chester Avenue around 8:30 p.m. While responding to the scene, police officers heard additional shots near the 1800 block of Frazier Street and spotted the suspect. They chased him as he continued to fire, and he was arrested in an alley behind Springfield Avenue after giving himself up.
Police said he was in possession of an AR-type rifle, a handgun, multiple magazines of ammo, and a police scanner, and he was wearing a ballistic vest.
The man, later identified as 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker, is now in custody. Charges are pending.
A second person was also taken into custody for allegedly shooting at Carriker. Police are investigating whether there was a connection between the two.
In total, five males died in this attack, including a teenager. Police released their identities:
— 15-year-old Daujan Brown
— 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt
— 29-year-old Dymir Stanton
— 31-year-old Joseph Wamah, Jr.
— 59-year-old Ralph Moralis
Police initially said four people died but later discovered Wamah dead inside a nearby home. The shootings took place over several city blocks.
Two boys, ages 2 and 13, were injured and taken to the hospital, where they are in stable condition. Two other people, a 2-year-old boy and a 33-year-old woman, sustained minor injuries from shattered glass.
Investigators marked off a two-by-four block radius and found more than 50 spent shell casings.
Neighbors were seen gathered on their porches Monday night, crying and consoling each other.
Mayor Jim Kenney said his heart is with the loved ones and families of everyone involved.
In a statement, City Council President Darrell Clarke stressed that the shooter was armed with a military-style assault rifle — a "weapon designed for war."
"It was on the streets of Southwest Philly, mowing down innocent Philadelphians, because Washington for years has put the interests of the Gun industry over the safety of Americans," he wrote. "It was used in an act of murderous carnage last night because the Supreme Court is siding with the gun lobby over cities and states seeking stronger gun laws to protect their citizens. Last night’s profanity of violence reminds us once again: Philadelphia needs the right to protect and defend its citizens with stronger, local gun laws, because no one else is coming to our rescue."
The Philadelphia violence is the country’s 29th mass killing in 2023, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University, the highest on record by this time in the year.
The numbers people killed in such events is also the highest by this time in the year.
There have been more than 550 mass killings since 2006, according to the database, in which at least 2,900 people have died and at least 2,000 people have been injured.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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