The suspect implicated in Monday’s brutal mass shooting in Philadelphia has been identified as Kimbrady Watson Carriker, a 40-year-old black transgender individual known for expressing support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Reports indicate the biological male suspect was armed with a rifle, pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner, and bulletproof vest when he fatally shot four men on the street.
He then chased and killed a fifth man inside a home.
Carriker’s Facebook activity reveals evidence of his activism and gender identity.
He had posted photos of himself donned in a bra, women’s top, and earrings, his hair styled in long braids back in March, a few months prior to the suspected shooting event.
Additionally, Carriker’s posts often showcased his commitment to BLM, including support for the workers who participated in the 2020 Strike For Black Lives.
Carriker’s comments on Facebook suggest his engagement with social issues and potentially darker personal interests.
In one instance, he reacted to a story about workers participating in a Strike for Black Lives, writing, “Black lives matter today; there will be jobs available. Equal opportunity finally. Just tell us where your quitting so we can send someone over.”
Furthermore, he shared articles titled “how do you know if an evil spirit is following you” and “Philly anti-violence grant program shows promising results, despite some hiccups, new evaluation shows.”
Philadelphia, in recent years, has been wrestling with an escalating problem of gun violence, experiencing a higher rate of deadly shootings than other significantly larger cities.
The New York Times, which has described the suspect simply as a “male” and refrained from sharing his picture, noted that “there have been 212 homicides in 2023 so far, a decline of 19 percent from 2022, according to the Office of the Controller.”
Transgender Audrey Hale was responsible for a March mass shooting outside Nashville, Tennesee in which three children, all aged nine, and three adults were killed.
Transgender “Denver shooter” Alec McKinney was sentenced to life in prison for perpetrating a shooting at a charter school in Denver, Colorado, in May 2019.
“Aberdeen shooter” Snochia Moseley identified as transgender.
Lawyers of the “Colorado Springs shooter” Anderson Lee Aldrich, accused of killing five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in November 2022, have said he identifies as non-binary and prefers they/them pronouns.
