For most of us, particularly people over the age of 45, all we’re looking for is some peace, quality time with family and friends, fun, and relaxation on the weekends. Right?
But no, there are people in this city who are hellbent on causing grief, havoc, unrest, and fear. Another word I can certainly use to describe what happens way too often in our city of Philadelphia is violence, and it doesn’t just happen on the weekends. People who are the perpetrators of the violence do not discriminate. They cause violence morning, noon, and night; it doesn’t matter to them.
Here we are on a holiday weekend, just one day away from all the major Welcome America festivities for those of you who celebrate July 4th, and what happens in Philadelphia? We get national news media attention again. This time because of a mass shooting in Southwest Philadelphia. Five people are dead, all African American males and two children were also victims of the shooting, and they are both reported in stable condition, physically. Their mental health, well, that’s another subject. Here’s a portion of what Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw had to say about this latest senseless violence. “At about 8:29 tonight, our officers were flagged down in the area behind me, at about 56th and Chester Street. We also received multiple calls about gunfire in the area. When officers responded, they did identify and find some gunshot victims. As they were scooping up the victims and preparing them for transport to the hospital, they also heard multiple gun- shots up the street at 56th and Kingsessing Avenue, where multiple casings were found by us–after the fact.
While on Kingsessing, they heard additional gunshots— multiple gunshots. In the area of the 1800 block of Frazier. At some point, they did locate the suspect and were able to pursue this male–who was on foot. The officers were on foot as well. The officers followed or pursued this male from Kingsessing, along Frazier Street, to Springfield while the male suspect was shooting. Our officers were able to apprehend the male in the rear alley of 1600 Frazier Street, and when they did, this male was wearing a bulletproof vest with multiple magazines in the vest. He also had a scanner, an AR-style rifle, and a handgun underneath his body. He was taken into custody without further incident. This scene consists pretty much of a two to four-block radius, and it consists of approximately 50 spent shell-casings, also several vehicles were struck by gunfire.” The suspect who was arrested at the scene is Kimbrady Carriker. He’s a 40-year-old male who is a resident of the 5600 block of Belmar Terrace in Southwest Philly. The people who were killed were 15-year-old Daujan Brown, 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt, 29-year-old Dymir Stanton, 31-year-old Joseph Wamah, Jr., and 59-year-old Ralph Moralis. Then there were also the two children who were wounded. Their ages are 2 and 13.
At the press deadline time for the SCOOP, no motive for the shooting is known. But family, friends, and neighbors of the victims and people who live in that Southwest Community are shaken. They are upset. Some are very fearful. Others are expressing anger and frustration that it seems like nothing, …
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