John Caldwell:Man thought killed during Philadelphia mass shooting was actually slain two days earlier, authorities say

2025-05-04 03:17:16source:Michael Schmidtcategory:reviews

Philadelphia authorities investigating a Fourth of July holiday shooting spree that left five people dead now say the gunman killed one of the victims almost two full days before the mass shooting.

Kimbrady Carriker,John Caldwell 40, was arraigned Wednesday morning on five counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons counts of possession without a license and carrying firearms in public, prosecutors said.

While authorities initially believed Carriker killed Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, in a home as part of a quickly orchestrated series of shootings, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Sunday that an error prevented police from discovering Wamah's body right away.

'"It has been determined through information received through a source and corroborated by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office and additional evidence that homicide victim Joseph Wamah, Jr. was killed by suspect Kimbrady Carriker approximately 44 hours before the mass shooting," Krasner's office said in a statement.

July 2012 photo provided by Terrance Harden shows Joseph Wamah Jr. Terrance Harden / AP

Authorities said Philadelphia Police responded to a 911 call about gunshots about 2 a.m. July 2 on South 56th Street, about 90 minutes after they now believe Wamah was killed. However, police were accidentally dispatched to North 56th Street, so they didn't find Wamah's body right away.

The two locations are about three miles apart, CBS News Philadelphia says.   

"The grieving family of the deceased has been briefed on this new information, and I cannot express enough the sorrow I feel," Krasner said.

A 2-year-old and a 13-year-old were also wounded by gunfire and another 2-year-old boy and a woman were hit by shattered glass in the rampage that made the working-class area in southwest Philadelphia the site of the nation's worst violence around the July Fourth holiday.

CBS News Philadelphia reports that the people killed in the mass shooting were identified by authorities as 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt, 29-year-old Dymir Stanton, 59-year-old Ralph Moralis and 15-year-old boy Daujan Brown.

    In:
  • Mass Shootings
  • Mass Shooting
  • Philadelphia

More:reviews

Recommend

PACCAR recalls over 220,000 trucks for safety system issue: See affected models

PACCAR is recalling over 220,000 of its 2021-2025 Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.  The commercial tru

Texas Study Finds ‘Massive Amount’ of Toxic Wastewater With Few Options for Reuse

Oil and gas extraction in the Permian Basin of arid West Texas is expected to produce some 588 milli

A Houston Firm Says It’s Opening a Billion-Dollar Chemical Recycling Plant in a Small Pennsylvania Town. How Does It Work?

POINT TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania—Randall Yoxheimer, chairman of the locally elected board of supervisors