PHILADELPHIA — The gunman accused of killing five people during a harrowing rampage in Southwest Philadelphia on Monday night told police that the shooting spree was an attempt to help authorities address the city’s gun violence crisis, and that God 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 while wearing body armor and a ski mask and carrying an assault rifle and ghost gun on the 1600 block of South Frazier Street, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Carriker first told officers who made the arrest that they had done a good job, the sources said. Carriker then 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. He then declined to provide further information to investigators.
Some of Carriker’s roommates, meanwhile, told detectives Carriker had been increasingly agitated recently — routinely wearing a bulletproof vest, carrying a gun, and screaming inside his house. One of the roommates described Carriker as a “biblical extremist” who also believed people should assist police in protecting their neighborhoods, sources said. And a neighbor of one of the people killed said she saw a video of Carriker screaming battle cries during his rampage.
In addition, officials said at a news conference that Carriker had written a will last month, which police found when they searched his house on the 5600 block of Belmar Terrace after his arrest. Prosecutors declined to specify what the document said, but Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said: “Obviously, this person was exhibiting abnormal behavior for quite awhile.”
The details offered new insight into Philadelphia’s deadliest shooting in decades, a crime that frightened residents, stunned city officials, and attracted national attention over a holiday because of 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 and was being represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which did not reply to a request for comment. Additional charges include attempted murder, aggravated assault and illegal gun possession. In all, officials said, he fatally shot five people and wounded two others, and two people were injured by shards of glass.
The crime came as other cities across the country — including Fort Worth and Baltimore — experienced similarly violent episodes around the holiday. In Philadelphia, the case led to outraged calls for new gun laws from some of the city’s elected officials, including Democratic state Sen. Sharif Street, who noted Wednesday that he made a similar plea almost two years ago, after one of his nephews was shot and killed at a July 4 cookout in West Philadelphia.
Street said Republicans — who control the state Senate and are just one seat shy of a majority in the House — have repeatedly declined to approve such proposals, including so-called red flag laws, which allow authorities to take guns from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration on Wednesday announced that the city had sued two manufacturers of parts and kits for “ghost guns,” which are untraceable and increasingly prevalent firearms that can be purchased without background checks and assembled at home — and which Carriker was allegedly carrying during his crime spree. The litigation was planned before Monday’s shooting, Kenney said, but turned out to be auspiciously timed.
“The root of the problem is the proliferation of guns in our city and our country,” Kenney said. “Guns are the common denominator in every single shooting.”
Relatives of the victims, meanwhile, were still processing the shock and trauma of the unexpected burst of violence, which killed and wounded people simply trying to go about their lives.
“I don’t understand how someone could just do that to my brother,” said Josephine Wamah, the sister of 31-year-old Joseph Wamah Jr., who was shot at his house on the 1600 block of South 56th Street. “He was gorgeous inside and out.”
Omar Brown, an uncle of several children who were injured when Carriker allegedly began firing at their car, said the family — including twin 2-year-old boys — is recovering physically, but still struggling mentally.
”They’re traumatized,” Brown said.
Indiscriminate gunfire
The episode began shortly before 8:30 p.m. Monday, when police received a call that a man was shooting on the 1600 block of South 56th Street.
Before pulling the trigger, Carriker had stood in the middle of the street screaming, said neighbor Glenda Drew, who said she watched a neighbor’s video footage.
“Hoorah!” Carriker screamed, according to Drew. “It’s time to go to war.”
Joseph Wamah Jr. went outside to see what was going on, Drew said his family told her. But he was met by Carriker, who chased him back into his house, and shot him multiple times.
Carriker then continued across 56th Street, police said, shooting at random people.
As a 33-year-old woman was driving her two toddlers and young niece down the street, police say, Carriker started firing at her car. She tried to accelerate and get out of the way, according to law enforcement sources, but Carriker continued shooting until she was out of sight around the corner.
Police and law enforcement sources gave this account of what happened next:
The 2-year-old in the backseat was shot multiple times in the legs, and his mother and twin brother were cut by shards of glass.
The woman immediately flagged down a police officer, who jumped into the woman’s Jeep and drove the family to the hospital. As they sped away, they could still hear gunshots in the distance — as Carriker continued on his rampage
Carriker trudged more than three blocks across 56th Street, from Springfield to Greenway Avenues, firing dozens of shots along the way. Between Springfield and Chester alone, he fired more than 40 shots, shooting anything in sight.
Two young teens tried to run, but both were shot and collapsed behind a tree, at 56th and Chester. A 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg, and his best friend — Da’Juan Brown, 15 — later died from his injuries.
Officers located another shooting victim at 56th and Greenway, but then civilians flagged them down — the shooter had looped back south, and was shooting on Frazier Street.
Dymir Stanton, 29, and his brothers, who live there, heard the shots and ran out to see how they could help. But Carriker — using a gun with a laser — then fatally shot Stanton. Stanton’s brother shot back at Carriker in self-defense with a legally registered gun, but did not strike him, prosecutors said. He was temporarily detained by police but was released and was not expected to face charges.
After that, an officer walked down an alley off Frazier Street, and while shining his flashlight, saw a pair of legs. Carriker was lying on the ground, a pistol and automatic rifle at his side, sources said, waiting for officers to take him into custody.
Warning signs preceded Carriker’s rampage
During the arrest, sources said, Carriker told the officers he was trying to help them because of the number of shooters on the streets.
Then, after he was taken to the Homicide Unit for questioning, sources said, he told detectives he was expecting Yahweh to send him more people to help. He then declined to talk further.
Pescatore, of the DA’s Office, said witnesses told investigators that they’d noticed Carriker acting erratically in recent days. Sources also said some of Carriker’s roommates told detectives they’d been trying to avoid him inside the house because of his perceived volatility — which included frequently shouting, invoking religion and routinely wearing his bulletproof vest and holding firearms.
Social media showed other potential warning signs: On a now-deleted Facebook account, Carriker posted in the days before his rampage referencing “evil spirits” and saying he was going on “patrols” in his neighborhood while blaming people for not doing enough to address crime. In earlier posts, he’d expressed support for the Second Amendment and Black Lives Matter while also criticizing President Joe Biden.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, speaking at an afternoon news conference, called some of Carriker’s messages “disturbing.” And she encouraged people to report suspicious or worrying behavior to authorities, particularly if those actions or social media posts are being made by those with access to weapons.
“They are letting people know what they are about to do, and that is on all of us to not sit silently,” Bilal said. “If you see these type of posts that are threatening to harm us, harm our communities, harm our children, harm somebody in society, we have to take a part in this.”
Pescatore added: “I just think that maybe if somebody had called or gotten some kind of help for (Carriker), this could’ve been avoided.”
Still, Pescatore and others said some questions were not yet answered, including how Carriker obtained his guns. He was convicted in 2005 of a misdemeanor gun charge, which should have prevented him from legally buying firearms. Pescatore and Assistant District Attorney Bob Wainwright said they were still investigating where and how he got the weapons.
Wainwright said police later discovered additional firearms and ammunition inside his house, along with his handwritten will. Sources said it contained instructions about who would receive some of his possessions, but Wainwright said he didn’t believe it contained any hint that Carriker might carry out such an attack.
In addition to searching Carriker’s house after the crime, police also searched Wamah’s residence. Police were not aware he’d been shot until after midnight, when the young man’s father came home from a business trip and found his son’s body on the floor.
“Someone killed my son!” the father ran into the street screaming, according to neighbors. The man, overwhelmed with grief, has since been hospitalized with heart palpitations, said Drew, his family friend.
As the father yelled for help, an officer processing the scene rushed over, Drew said.
Inside, she said, they found the young man’s body, and his phone lying next to him — the incomplete emergency numbers “9-1″ typed on the screen.
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(Philadelphia Inquirer staff writers Rodrigo Torrejón, Sean Collins Walsh and Ryan Briggs contributed to this article.)
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