Philadelphia police were searching for a motive Tuesday after a heavily armed gunman went on an apparently random rampage that left five people dead and four injured as the nation endured the year’s 29th mass killing on the eve of Independence Day.
Police said the gunman had an AR-style rifle, a pistol, a bulletproof vest, extra magazines and a police scanner as he fatally shot four men and chased and killed a fifth one inside a house.
“What happened last night in our Kingsessing neighborhood was unimaginably disgusting and horrifying,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a Tuesday news briefing. “On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening, this armed and armored individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at victims seemingly at random.’’
Officers responded to gunfire in the working-class Kingsessing section of southwest Philadelphia at about 8:30 p.m., Outlaw said Monday. They found 50 shell casings over the eight blocks where the shootings occurred.
“We’re canvassing the area to get as much as we can, to identify witnesses, to identify where cameras are located and to do everything to figure out the why,” Outlaw said.
Police identified the victims as Daujan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Ralph Moralis, 59; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Joseph Wamah Jr., 31.
Staff inspector Ernest Ransom said the suspect started “shooting aimlessly” at occupied vehicles and pedestrians. One 2-year-old boy in a car sustained leg wounds while his twin brother had eye injuries from shattered glass.
In addition, a 13-year-old was shot twice in the legs and a 33-year-old woman was also injured by shattered glass.
“At this point, we don’t see a connection to any of the victims and the shooter,” Outlaw said.
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The 29 mass killings in 2023, according to files maintained by USA TODAY and The Associated Press in partnership with Northeastern University, are the most on record by this time of the year, as are the number of people killed in such events.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the suspect will probably be arraigned Wednesday and face multiple charges of murder and aggravated assault.
Krasner also lamented that Pennsylvania lacks the stricter gun laws of neighboring New Jersey and Delaware, saying they “might have made a difference here.’’
“It is disgusting, the lack of proper gun legislation that we have in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,’’ he said.
Outlaw said that while police were responding to the first scene and preparing to transport victims to a hospital, more gunshots were heard in two other areas near where the victims were found.
Officers chased the suspect as he continued to fire, and he was arrested in an alley after surrendering, Outlaw said.
“Thank God our officers were on the scene and responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown, in addition to the restraint that was shown here,” Outlaw said.
“At this point, all we know is that this person decided to leave their home and to target individuals,” she said.
A person Outlaw said had returned fire at the shooter was also arrested.
“At some point as victims were being shot, we have another person that we believe acquired a gun somehow, we don’t know how, and picked up the gun and returned fire in the direction of the shooter we have in custody,” she said.
Officers were canvassing the scene, which covers an area of two by four blocks, to determine what led to the shooting.
Contributing: The Associated Press
