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Philadelphia mass shooting: Prayer walk gathers on block where gunman began deadly rampage

Published  July 6, 2023 10:16pm EDT
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Philadelphia mass shooting: Prayer walk gathers on block where gunman began deadly rampage

Community members still reeling from Monday's mass shooting that claimed the lives of five people were joined by city leaders for a prayer walk to call for an end to gun violence.

PHILADELPHIA - Community members still reeling from Monday's mass shooting that claimed the lives of five people were joined by city leaders for a prayer walk to call for an end to gun violence. 

District Attorney Larry Krasner and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw were among the hundreds who gathered at the intersection of 56th Street and Chester Avenue Thursday night.

It was the same block where police say on Monday night a lone gunman started his murderous rampage for several blocks, killing five people and wounding two others with gunfire. 

"The emotion that I felt was anger, because we come out here everyday dealing with gun violence," Abdul-Kareem As-Salafi from the Philadelphia Anti-Drug Anti-Violence Network said.

PHILADELPHIA MASS SHOOTING

Kimbrady Carriker, 40, has since been charged with 10 sets of charges for 10 victims killed or wounded. He appeared in a Philadelphia court on Wednesday and is due back at the end of the month.

Investigators say Carriker was wearing a ballistic vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun with more ammunition. He also has a police scanner on him when he was taken into custody. 

Clergy from the Philadelphia Police Department's 12th District lead Thursday's prayer walk, stopping at many of the victim's homes along the way. 

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The father of a teenage survivor of Monday's mass shooting in Philadelphia said his son saved his own life by rolling under a parked car when the gunman stood over him after was shot in the legs.

Denise Justice, a neighbor whose two sons were killed in shootings that happened 10 months apart, participated in the prayer walk not just for her sons but for "all of the violence in the city."

"You can't go to the store, you can't take SEPTA, you can't walk down the street, you can't sit on your own steps," Justice said. "It has to stop, I can't take it no more." 

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw was on hand Thursday as a show of solidarity with the community where she witness carnage and tragedy that she says she will never forget. 

Philadelphia mass shooting: Victim's families attend prayer vigil at Kingsessing church

As investigators work to determine what caused a lone gunman to go on a shooting rampage for several blocks in Philadelphia, loved ones of the victims gathered for a citywide prayer service.

"When we walk the walk, I remember the pools of blood that we had to step over, these are things you don't forget, these are thing our children don't forget," Outlaw said.

Leaders and clergy members are encouraging anyone who needs counseling or mental health services to seek the help they need with resources made available by the city and faith communities.

"If you need to get hel, somebody to talk to, don't you dare not do it," Pastor Bev Clayborn said. "You find somebody, you go to a spiritual leader, a counselor, you talk to somebody."