Brother of shooting victim reveals he had just stepped outside when he was shot and killed twice

The brother of one of the five victims of the Philadelphia shooting has revealed that his brother had just stepped outside to go to a store when he was shot and killed twice.

Lashyd Merritt was one of five people shot Monday night by Kimbrady Carriker, who was armed with a rifle and pistol.

Meritt’s brother, Dominque Evans, told them fox29 that he was shocked by the incident.

Evans said: ‘[Meritt] Just ran out of the house i think [the shooter] was there and shot him twice. It’s just sad, these are things you see on TV, not in real life, that’s why I’m so shocked.’

The other victims were named as Ralph Moralis, 59; Joseph Wamah, 31; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Daujan Brown, 15.

Moralis would walk down the aisle with his eldest daughter this weekend, his ex-partner Tamika Veney told the Philadelphia investigator.

She said, “He did well with his family. He was an ordinary guy, a good man. He will be really missed.’

Brown was staying at his grandmother’s house in the southwest part of the city, according to the newspaper New York Times.

The teen “had his own little spunk in his dancing,” said his mother, Nyshyia Thomas, 34.

“You were sad around him, he didn’t let you be sad. My baby was only 15 years old and I just don’t get to see my son anymore.”

Families enjoyed the neighborhood festivities as Carriker, wearing a body armor, opened fire on his unsuspecting victims.

He is now in custody and faces multiple murder charges after rampaging through the streets.

A mother and daughter living with Carriker in the 5600 block of Belmar Terrace in 2021 were shocked to discover he was named as a suspect in the massacre.

Tina Rosette, 49, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Carriker was “very smart, intelligent, creative” and loved working on computer programs.

Rosette added that while she had never seen Carriker with a gun, she admitted that he “approached some things in life aggressively.”

She recalled that Carriker sometimes taught people how to fight in self-defense, but she claimed he didn’t give them much guidance on how and when to stop.

But Rosette’s 24-year-old daughter, Cianni, said she saw Carriker’s gun and that he was “trying to familiarize me with guns and things like that.”

On his social media pages, Carriker regularly posted about his support for Black Lives Matter, including his support for workers who protested during the Strike For Black Lives in July 2020.

He had also shared images of items of clothing with phrases such as “the First Amendment defines us, the Second Amendment defends us.”

Another hooded sweatshirt features branding that says, “I’m smearing my AR-15 liberal tears.”

Another design features the haunting phrase, “Know this, we are many, they are few.” Fearing death is a choice and they can’t hang us all.’

In addition, Carriker had also shared images showing support for former President Donald Trump and promoting being a vegan in another.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at an overnight press conference that she did not know whether the suspect was firing his rifle or pistol at the time he was pursued by police, but confirmed he was “actively firing.”

The officers then heard multiple gunfire down the street on Kingsessing Avenue, where they found “several shell casings.”

Police continued up the street before hearing more gunfire in the area of ​​the 1800 block of Frazier Street.

Officers were then able to arrest the suspect in the back alley of the 1600 block of Frazier Street and found him armed with the rifle, handgun, multiple magazines and a police scanner. The police themselves did not fire any shots.

“Thank God our agents responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and bravery that was shown,” said Outlaw.

Outlaw said at a news conference that all of the victims of the mass shooting were male, including the two-year-old and the 13-year-old.

A mass shooting is defined by the FBI as an incident in which at least four people are killed with a gun.

The total number of victims increased overnight and police said a fifth male victim was found four hours after the shooting when a man came home to find his 31-year-old son dead in the living room with multiple gunshot wounds.

“We believe that because of where he was found and where his home is on 56th Street, and the fact that we found ballistic evidence consistent with the ballistic evidence we found on the street a few hours earlier, this murder is related said Philadelphia. That’s what Police Chief Scott Small said.

A resident named Roger, who declined to give his last name, said he and his family were eating in the living room around 8:30 p.m. when they heard eight to 10 gunshots.

“Everyone thought it was fireworks, but I’ve been here for three years so I’ve heard enough,” he said. “I looked out the window and saw a bunch of people running.”

He said he heard about four more shots and “thought it was over.”

The violence in Philadelphia is the 29th mass murder in the country in 2023, the highest on record by this time of year. And the neighborhood of Kingsessing is becoming more and more dangerous, the locals say.

The number of people killed in such events is also the highest at this time of year.

Since 2006, according to the database, there have been more than 550 mass murders, in which at least 2,900 people have been killed and at least 2,000 injured.