Philadelphia suspect left a will and was acting agitated days before shootings, prosecutors say
PHILADELPHIA — The man accused in the fatal shooting spree in Philadelphia that left five people dead and four others wounded Monday night left a will at his house, and according to a roommate had acted agitated and wore a tactical vest around his house in the days before the shooting, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Kimbrady Carriker was arraigned Wednesday morning on five counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons counts of possession without a license and carrying firearms in public, prosecutors said. The 40-year-old is accused of killing a man later found dead inside a house and then gunning down four others before surrendering to police.
A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old youth were also wounded by gunfire and another 2-year-old boy and a woman were hit by shattered glass in the Monday night rampage that made the working-class area in southwest Philadelphia the site of the nation's worst violence around the July Fourth holiday.
Joanne Pescatore, supervisor of the Philadelphia District Attorney's office's Homicide and Non-Fatal Shooting Unit, said at least one of the seven roommates who lived with Carriker told investigators he was wearing the vest in the days before the shooting and had the guns in the house. Pescatore said the roommate described him as being more and more agitated over the past few days.
"Their way of dealing with it was just to avoid contact with him ... as he became more and more agitated," she said at a news conference Wednesday, just a few blocks from where the shootings took place.
District Attorney Larry Krasner declined to discuss Carriker's mental health when asked whether it might have played a role in the killings, but said he expected that the defense would request an evaluation.
A representative of the Defender Association of Philadelphia said he believed the office would be representing Carriker and declined immediate comment on the charges.
Prosecutors said they recovered a handgun, a will dated June 23 and other evidence during a search of the Carrick's home. They declined to discuss details of the will or whether it gave any indication Carrick had been planning the attack between then and the shooting 10 days later.
Police called to the Kingsessing neighborhood Monday night found gunshot victims and started to help them before hearing more shots. Some officers rushed victims to hospitals while others ran toward the gunfire and chased the firing suspect.
Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom, the homicide unit commander, said witness interviews and video indicated the suspect went to several locations in a ski mask and body armor, 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 — one of whom was shot four times in the legs and the other who was hit in the eyes by shattered glass.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the "armed and armored individual" was firing "seemingly at random."
Cornered in an alley, the suspect surrendered and was found to have not only the rifle but also a pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner and a bulletproof vest, police said.
Philadelphia police on Tuesday afternoon identified the victims as 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt, 29—year-old Dymir Stanton, 59-year-old Ralph Moralis and 15-year-old Daujan Brown, all pronounced dead shortly after the Monday night gunfire; and 31-year-old Joseph Wamah Jr., who was found in a home early Tuesday, also with multiple bullet wounds.
Investigators believe Wamah was the first victim killed, but he wasn't found by family members until hours later, Ransom said.
Asa Khalif, a member of Philadelphia District Attorney's Office LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, said Wednesday there have since been hateful comments aimed at transgender people because of photos the shooter posted on social media wearing what appeared to be women's attire. He called the comments hateful, violent and misdirected.
"The suspect has not identified themselves as trans. They have only identified themselves as male," Khalif said. "But the language spewed out by the conservative press is violent and dangerous and targeting trans women of color. It's rallying the community to be violent."
"There are some people for whom hate is a full-time job, and if they can stay away from the facts and talk about hate, that's what they do," Krasner said.
Krasner said the streets surrounding where the shootings occurred were silent Wednesday. He noted seeing a child's bike on the ground untouched since the shootings.
Zaffer Qasim, an emergency physician at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where many of the victims were taken Monday night for treatment, declined to discuss individual victims or their treatment but noted the "degree of injury from the style of weapon that was used ... and the amount of damage."
"I said before we started that bullets don't care who you are. And it's not just the victims, but it spreads to the families in the family rooms and to the community," he said. "As the district attorney noted, the streets are now empty because people are scared to go out in the streets."
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