PHILADELPHIA — The shooter accused of killing five people during a harrowing rampage in Southwest Philadelphia Monday night told police the shooting spree was an attempt to help authorities address the city’s gun violence crisis, and that a deity would be sending more people to help, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The assertions by Kimbrady Carriker were made to police in the hours after Carriker was arrested on the 1600 block of South Frazier Street, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Carriker first told responding officers who made the arrest that they had done a good job, the sources said. Carriker also told them the gunfire — which spanned several blocks and struck people, including children, who had no apparent connection to one another — was an attempt to help police because “all these guys are out there killing people,” the sources said.
Carriker later told detectives that Yahweh, a Hebrew name for God, would be sending more people to help, the sources said. Carriker then declined to provide further information to investigators during the interview.
The details offered new clues into the city’s deadliest shooting in years, a crime that frightened residents, stunned officials, and attracted national attention over a holiday due to its brazen and seemingly random nature. The revelations emerged not long after Carriker, 40, was arraigned on five counts of first-degree murder and related charges.
Carriker was held without bail, court records show, and was being represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Additional charges include attempted murder, aggravated assault, and illegal gun possession.
Carriker is accused of fatally shooting five people and wounding two children — ages 2 and 13 — during the shooting spree. Two other people, including another 2-year-old, were injured by broken glass during the episode, police said. Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors had also filed charges against Carriker in connection with a 10-year-old who was uninjured but inside a Jeep that Carriker fired at.
Carriker was armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, and was wearing a ballistic vest and ski mask, and was carrying additional magazines of ammunition and a police scanner.
The incident began shortly before 8:30 p.m. Monday, when police responded to reports of gunfire in the area of South 56th Street and Chester Avenue. Ernest Ransom, the head of the Police Department’s homicide unit, said Carriker was seen on 56th Street between Chester and Springfield Avenues firing “aimlessly” at occupied vehicles and pedestrians.
Officers followed the shooter as gunshots rang out, and about 10 minutes later were able to corner Carriker several blocks away in an alleyway on Frazier Street, Outlaw said. Carriker was taken into custody without further incident, she said.
The deceased victims were identified by police as Da’Juan Brown, 15, whose residence was unknown; Lashyd Merritt, 20, of the 5500 block of Greenway Avenue; Ralph Moralis, 59, of the 1700 block of South 56th Street; Dymir Stanton, 29, of the 1700 block of South Frazier Street; and Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, of the 1600 block of South 56th Street.
Authorities did not release the names of the wounded.
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(Staff writers John Duchneskie and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article)
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