Philadelphia’s emergency response system is under scrutiny after news that a dispatcher gave officers the wrong address in a recent shooting was made public.
Community members are saying had police received the correct information, the mass shooting could have been prevented.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw hosted a news conference on Monday, July 10, saying, “Hindsight is always perfect,” when addressing how her staff dropped the ball.
“While it may have given us an investigative lead, the likelihood of cutting that off, or cutting off what happened later on, we just don’t know,” Outlaw said, according to CNN. “It’s tragic. It’s unfortunate. And we don’t like the fact that we’re adding to the atrocities that already occurred because now folks are second-guessing our actions.”
The Philadelphia Police Department later determined that Kimbrady Carriker, the alleged gunman in the July 3 tragedy, was the same person they say killed 31-year-old Joseph Wamah Jr. 44 hours before the attack on the Kingsessing community.
Patrols were dispatched around 2 a.m. on July 2 to the 1600 block of North 56th Street to respond to gunshots heard by neighbors. However, the department reported on Sunday, July 9, the address provided to the cops was incorrect.
The 911 call had originated near the 1600 block of South 56th Street, which is three miles opposite the scene of the police response. The woman who reported the incident described hearing shots and seeing a man in dark clothing enter a house across the street from hers, followed by more sounds of gunfire and the same man in dark clothes — now believed to be Carriker — fleeing the scene. Authorities say the 911 call about this incident came about 90 minutes after the shooting, which happened around 12:30 a.m. on July 2.
Wamah lived with his father, who was not home when his son was shot. Joseph Wamah Sr. came home and discovered his son’s body in the house at approximately 12:30 a.m. July 4, some two days after Wamah Jr. had been shot.
While investigating the Southwest Philly mass shooting of July 3, police canvassing the community made contact with multiple witnesses who informed police they had heard the July 2 shooting of Wamah, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Eventually, officers made contact with the woman who placed the July 2 call and determined the police had gone to the wrong location after her call. Once on track, they swiftly discovered video evidence of Carriker blasting his weapon and entering Wamah’s residence.
“The grieving family of the deceased has been briefed on this new information, and I cannot express enough the sorrow I feel,” wrote Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. “These developments may be confusing and re-traumatizing for Mr. Wamah’s loved ones.”
Because police initially went to the wrong address, they did not find any evidence of a shooting. The Inquirer reports that the dispatcher called back the woman who first reported the Wamah shooting, but she became uncooperative and hung up.
Now, the families of Wamah, DaJuan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Ralph Moralis, 59, the five killed during the shooting, are planning memorial services.
“They definitely could have prevented this. I feel as though the police department, the city of Philadelphia, has failed me.” Nyshyia Thomas, Brown’s mother, said to The New York Times.
A toddler and a 13-year-old were shot in the leg by Carriker. The toddler’s twin and a 33-year-old woman sustained cuts from broken glass during the chaotic incident.
He faces charges of murder, attempted murder, and illegal firearm possession, among other related charges, in connection to the shooting. He is currently being held without bond and has not been asked to enter a plea.
Court records show his preliminary hearing is set for July 24.
