Five dead in Philadelphia shootings
Alleged suspect killed seemingly at random
PHILADELPHIA — The five men who were shot to death appeared to not know their assailant. Neither did the two youths who were wounded on the streets of a Philadelphia neighborhood Monday.
There was little, in fact, that police understood Tuesday about what motivated the suspect, a 40-year-old man. What was clear in the working-class neighborhood of Kingsessing was that an idyllic evening had been transformed into a scene of terror.
Police said the gunman killed one man in a house then fatally shot four others outside before officers chased and cornered him in an alley. Wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a rifle, a pistol, extra magazines, and a police scanner, he surrendered, police said.
“On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening, this armed and armored individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at their victims seemingly at random,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Police called to the scene had 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, Outlaw said.
Staff inspector Ernest Ransom, the homicide unit commander, said witness interviews and recovered video indicate the suspect was seen in several locations in the neighborhood wearing a ski mask and body armor and 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.
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 actually the first victim killed but he wasn't found by family members until hours later, Ransom said.
The 2-year-old boy was shot four times in the legs and a 13year-old was shot twice in the legs. They were in stable condition, as were a 2-year-old boy and a 33-year-old woman injured by shattered glass.
Police said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and there was no reason to believe anyone else was involved. Police and prosecutors said no charges were planned at this point against a second person taken into custody who is believed to have obtained a gun somewhere and fired back at the shooter.
“When you are under fire in a mass shooting, there are rights to protect others and rights to protect yourself,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
Authorities asked for patience as they complete their investigation of every aspect of the shooting which Outlaw said “includes the ‘why.’”
Krasner said the suspect would face multiple counts of murder as well as aggravated assault and weapons charges and was expected to be denied bail at arraignment.
Outlaw praised the bravery of officers tending to victims and rushing them to hospitals as others “fearlessly ran toward the sounds of gunfire” and captured the suspect. "Their swift actions undoubtedly saved additional lives,” she said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney renewed his oft-repeated call for more measures to “do something about America’s gun problem.”