Philadelphia shooting : Possible motive emerges as suspect’s disturbing posts before attack revealed

A Philadelphia father was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding just days after he was killed in Monday’s horror mass shooting.

Ralph Moralis, 59, was one of the five victims killed on the eve of July 4 when a shooter dressed in a ski mask and bullet-proof vest stalked the streets of the Kingsessing neighbourhood gunning down victims.

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.

The Philadelphia gunman charged with killing five people over the Fourth of July weekend left “disturbing messages” on social media before carrying out one of several US mass shootings that marred the holiday break, authorities said on Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker, appeared on Wednesday in Philadelphia County Municipal Court for arraignment on five counts of murder and other charges related to the Monday evening rampage, which appeared to be random.

Investigators said they have yet to determine a motive for the shooting. Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said at a briefing on Wednesday that authorities were focusing on “disturbing” posts found on the suspect’s social media accounts.

She did not reveal the substance of those posts, nor what was written in a will for the suspect dated 23 June that investigators also discovered. Later when asked by a reporter, officials declined to comment.

Sheriff Bilal urged the public to alert authorities if they see extreme posts on social media.

“That is on all of us, not sit in silence when we see these type of posters that are threatening to harm us, harm our communities, harm our children,” she said.

Speaking at yesterday’s press conference on the shooting, one Black Lives Matter activist stepped up to denounce the right-wing press for circulating photographs of the shooter in women’s clothing (although he seemingly did not identify as trans), to insinuate his sexuality might have played a role in Monday’s atrocity.

“The language spewed out by the conservative press is violent and is dangerous and is targeting trans women of colour. It’s rallying the community to be violent,” he said.

Here’s Ariano Baio’s report on Marjorie Taylor Greene and others readily picking up that false narrative.

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:

Seven people, including two children, were shot in a mass shooting that took place in a residential neighbourhood of Philadelphia on Monday evening.

Just hours before Fourth of July celebrations were set to take place, police responded to calls of gunfire where they found multiple gunshot victims and approximately 50 shell casings.

Of the people shot, five adults were killed and two children were injured.

Law enforcement with the Philadelphia Police Department apprehended the suspected shooter after pursuing him on foot. Police detained the man who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a handgun, a bulletproof vest and multiple magazines.

The shooting marks the 340th mass shooting to occur in the United States this year.

Ariana Baio reports:

About one in 20 US adults – roughly 16 million Americans – own at least one AR-15-style rifle, according to polling from Ipsos and The Washington Post, which traced the explosion of the popular firearm from its military use into one of the nation’s most popular and deadliest weapons. One of the firearms carried by the Nashville suspect was an AR-style rifle, according to police.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner railed against gun violence and US lawmakers who prioritize the rights of gun owners over public safety in the hours after a gunman killed five people.

“It is time for everybody in our legislature, including the ones who would like to walk around with an AR-15 lapel pin, it is time for every one of them to face the voters. And if they’re not going to do something, then the voters are going to have to vote them out,” Mr Krasner said during a press conference. “Because that’s what that lapel pin means, it means ‘Vote me out. I am against you, and I am against your safety.’”

The suspected shooter in the Philadelphia mass shooting was charged with five counts of murder among other charges during a preliminary arraignment on Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker, was charged with 11 total charges including attempted murder, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and carrying a firearm without a license.

The suspected shooter is accused of carrying out the shooting by “aimlessly” firing in a neighbourhood in Philadelphia. Five people, including a 15-year-old, were killed and two children were injured.

Carriker is being held without bail for the murders.

Kimbrady Carriker, the suspect arrested and charged following a mass shooting in Philadelphia, posted on social media about guns and his Second Amendment right to bear arms, according to a review of the profiles.

Among those posts were several from pro-gun groups expressing their support for Donald Trump.

Despite this, Republicans lawmakers and pundits — including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — have suggested incorrectly that the suspect is trans.