Teen trying to save friend, father of a bride, and 22-year-old heading to store: Philadelphia shooting victims
Five people going about their lives on the evening before July 4 were killed by a 40-year-old shooter in a random attack. Here’s what we know about the victims. Rachel Sharp reports
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A 15-year-old boy trying to get his friend out of danger.
A father about to walk his daughter down the aisle.
A man who was just popping to the local store.
All killed in a horror mass shooting on the eve of July 4 when a suspect dressed in a ski mask and bullet-proof vest and armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a 9mm handgun stalked the streets of the Kingsessing neighbourhood in Philadelphia, opening fire at random on people in their path.
Five victims died in the attack while two children – aged two and 13 – were shot in the leg but are in stable condition.
The two-year-old’s twin and a 33-year-old woman also suffered injuries from broken glass caused by the shooting.
The 40-year-old accused shooter Kimbrady Carriker appeared in court on Wednesday on murder charges where a judge denied bail. Carriker is also facing charges including murder, aggravated assault and weapons offences.
“On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening, this armed and armoured individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at their victims seemingly at random,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Philadelphia police have identified the five victims killed as Ralph Moralis, 59; Lashyd Merritt, 22; Dymir Stanton, 29; Daujan Brown, 15; and Joseph Wamah Jr, 31.
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Ralph Moralis
Ralph Moralis, 59, was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding just days after he was killed in Monday’s horror mass shooting.
Moralis’ former partner Tamika Veney described the 59-year-old as a family man who was looking forward to his eldest daughter’s wedding this weekend and was going to walk her down the aisle at the nuptials.
Instead, his family has now been left to plan his funeral.
“He did well by his family. He was a regular dude, a good person. He’s really going to be missed,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Lashyd Merritt
Lashyd Merritt, 22, had just stepped out of his house to go to the local store for food when he was gunned down by the suspect on Monday night.
“He was just going to the store to get his dinner for the night,” Merritt’s cousin Nikki Merritt told NBC News, saying that he was fatally shot just steps from his door.
“He lived three or four doors down from where he was found. He grew up here.”
Merritt grew up in the neighbourhood as the youngest of five children, attending West Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School before starting work at the IRS as a service representative.
He as remembered as a “good guy” by his family.
“He was just an overall good guy,” said Ms Merritt. “He was always supportive and helpful to anybody. Family, friends. Anyone. If he thought he could help, he would.”
The 22-year-old’s mother Marie Merritt described him as her “baby” and “number one prize”.
“You took my son. You took my baby,” she told WPVI. “He was my prize. He was my No. 1 prize, and he knows that… I miss him so much.”
Daujan Brown
Teenager Daujan Brown was killed in the mass shooting while trying to help his friend who had also been shot.
His heartbroken mother Nashaya Thomas told NBC Philadelphia that the 15-year-old boy was walking to the store when the shooting broke out.
His friend, aged 13, was shot twice in the legs.
When Daujan tried to help him, he was also shot – and killed. His friend survived.
“He was just trying to get his friend help not knowing that bullets don’t have no name,” said Ms Thomas.
“There was no way you could meet Daujan, have a conversation with him and not fall in love with him.
“He lost his life trying to do a selfless act, and that’s how he was when he was here.”
Joseph Wamah Jr
Joseph Wamah Jr, 31, is believed to have been the first victim killed by the shooter – with police now believing that he was killed two days before the mass shooting.
When officers responded to the scene at around 8.30pm, they initially found four victims in the streets and took the shooter – who was still “actively shooting” into custody.
At around 12.30am, Wamah’s father returned to his son’s home to check on him and found his body on the living room floor.
Police said he had been shot multiple times in the face and the torso.
On Sunday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner revealed that the medical examiner’s office found that Wamah was killed around 44 hours before the mass shooting.
An investigation also revealed that shots were reported near his home at around 2am on 2 July – but police were dispatched to an incorrect address and didn’t find his body.
It was then two days later when the shooter killed four more.
A school friend paid tribute to Wamah on social media last week, writing: “Wow Man R.I.P Joseph Wamah one of my best friends from middle school everytime i seen you we talk about our Duckery Basketball days you was really a good dude.”
Wamah’s twin sister Josephine Wamah told a press conference last week that her brother had been an exceptionally gifted artist.
“You could feel all the energy, everything that he was saying in his body, you could feel it on top of the canvas. You could feel this man’s emotions on every stroke of the paintbrush that he puts on the canvas,” she said.
“He was gorgeous inside and out,” she said.
Dymir Stanton
Dymir Stanton was 29 years old and lived on Frazier Street, where the shooter carried out their rampage on Monday night.
He died after being shot in the chest and back.