Police have unmasked the suspected gunman in the Philadelphia mass shooting that killed five men and left two children injured as 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker, a Trans BLM activist.
Carriker of Philadelphia was arrested shortly after the killing spree on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia, police said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Five men between the ages of 16 and 59 were killed in the shooting. The fifth victim wasn’t found until four hours later when an unnamed man returned home and found his 31-year-old son dead with bullet wounds in the living room.
The motive for the shooting is not yet known. It is not clear if any of the victims are connected or if there is any link between them and the suspect.
Families had been enjoying the festivities in the neighborhood when the gunman wielding an AR-style rifle and handgun opened fire on his unsuspecting victims.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference overnight that she did not know if the suspect was firing from his rifle or handgun at the time he was chased by cops, but confirmed he was ‘actively shooting’.
Philadelphia police were dispatched to 56th Street and Chester Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Monday night where they found several victims.
The officers then heard multiple gunshots further up the street on Kingsessing Avenue where they found ‘multiple casings’. The cops advanced further down the street before hearing more gunshots in the area of 1800 block of Frazier Street.
Officers were then able to apprehend the suspect in the rear alley of 1600 block of Frazier Street and found he was armed with the rifle, handgun, multiple magazines, and a police scanner.
‘Thank God our officers responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown,’ Outlaw said.
A second person who cops believe had ‘picked up the gun and returned fire in the direction of the shooter’ was also in custody, Outlaw said, but did not know whether there was a connection between that person and the mass shooter.
Officials had described the scene as covering an area of two by four blocks and said around 50 spent shell casings were found.
Outlaw said at a news conference that all of the victims of the mass shooting were male, including the two-year-old and the 13-year-old. A mass shooting is defined by the FBI as an incident in which at least four people are murdered with a gun.
The total number of victims increased overnight and police said a fifth male victim was found four hours after the shooting when a man returned home and found his 31-year-old son dead in the living room with multiple gunshots wounds.
‘We believe because of where he was found and where his house is on 56th Street, and the fact that we found ballistic evidence that matches the ballistic evidence we found on the street a few hours earlier, we believe this homicide is related,’ Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
