CNN
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A suspect accused of killing five people – including a 15-year-old boy – in a shooting in Philadelphia Monday night is set to be arraigned Wednesday on murder charges, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
The 40-year-old suspect, identified as Kimbrady Carriker, is also facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and simple assault, among others, according to the district attorney’s office.
It’s unclear if Carriker, whom prosecutors are referring to using they/them pronouns, has an attorney.
Authorities say the suspect appeared to fire randomly along several blocks of southwest Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood Monday night before officers arrested Carriker during a chase on foot. The suspect had an AR-style rifle, a 9 mm handgun and a scanner that tracks emergency response radio traffic, and was wearing a bulletproof vest and a ski mask, authorities 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 in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Killed in the shooting were Daujan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; and Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, police said. Wamah’s body was found in a home early Tuesday, while the others were found Monday night, authorities said.
Two boys, ages 2 and 13, were shot in their legs and were in stable condition, police said. A 33-year-old woman and another 2-year-old boy were injured by glass, authorities said.
The two 2-year-old children are twins who were in a car with their mom when shots were fired at them, authorities indicated at a news conference Tuesday.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office is using they/them pronouns to refer to the suspect based on “information we have at this time,” a spokesperson for the office told CNN. Philadelphia officials previously used he/him pronouns for the suspect during a Tuesday news conference.
The shooting was one of more than 345 mass shootings that have unfolded across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. CNN and the archive define a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
Monday’s shooting in Philadelphia came during a holiday period marked by deadly gun violence in parts of the country. At least three people died and eight were wounded in a shooting Monday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The day before, two people were killed and 28 were injured in a shooting in Baltimore.
Tuesday marked one year since a shooting at a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park killed seven people and wounded others.
As the investigation into the shooting continues, grief has overwhelmed Marie Merritt, whose youngest of five children – Lashyd Merritt – was killed Monday.
Her son was heading to a store to buy a snack when he was shot, Marie Merritt told CNN affiliate WPVI.
“You took my son. You took my baby,” Marie Merritt told the outlet. “He was my prize. He was my No. 1 prize, and he knows that. … I miss him so much.”
Investigators believe Wamah, the victim who was found dead inside a home in Kingsessing, was the first person killed in the shooting Monday night, authorities said Tuesday.
Wamah’s father found his body in a living room around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, city police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Wamah had been shot several times, and responding medics declared him dead shortly after, Small said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney on Tuesday called on lawmakers to address firearms legislation.
“I’m frustrated and outraged that mass shootings like this continue to happen in communities across the United States,” he said. “This country needs to re-examine its conscience and find out how to get guns out of dangerous people’s hands. … We are begging Congress to protect lives and do something about America’s gun problem.”
Police learned of the shooting around 8:30 p.m. Monday when officers were flagged to the crime scene and found multiple people with gunshot wounds, according to Outlaw, the Philadelphia police commissioner.
“As they were scooping up victims and preparing them for transport to the hospital, they also heard multiple gunshots up the street,” Outlaw said.
After responding to the second shooting site, officers again heard more gunshots on a nearby street, she said.
Officers followed the sound of gunfire and pursued the suspect, who authorities say fired a rifle while fleeing the scene. The shooter was taken into custody in an alley, Outlaw said.
At least 50 shell casings were recovered after the shootings, and vehicles were damaged, Outlaw said at a Monday night news conference.
