Philadelphia Police officials have disclosed that a 911 dispatcher sent officers to the wrong address after receiving a call early on July 2. The apparent error meant that the deadly gunfire on South 56th Street was not known by authorities until the following night. By then, the man now suspected of having killed Joseph Wamah had already carried out one of the city’s deadliest mass shootings. The man charged in Mr. Wamah’s death is Kimbrady Carriker, who prosecutors said stalked the neighborhood the next evening wearing a mask and body armor, firing his assault-style rifle wildly and killing four people.
The Dispatcher’s Error
Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw said that the discovery of the error “compounds the tragedy that already occurred” and that it was under administrative investigation. But she insisted that even if police had shown up to the right address on July 2, Mr. Wamah would likely have already been dead. It was also unclear, she added, if police would have been able to prevent the massacre the next day.
In an interview on Monday, the woman who identified herself as Nadirah and claimed to have called 911 reported that she had made two calls. At one point, a supervisor from the police called her and asked her to verify the address, but the confusion continued. Despite being told by the person on the phone that officers were present, she did not see anyone.
She stated that if the Philadelphia police had come, they would have found Mr. Wamah. She was referring to the fact that she had told 911 about Mr. Wamah, and his front door was open at that time. However, when she checked later that morning, the door was closed.
Targeted Vs Erratic Shootings
The killing of Mr. Wamah on July 2 appears to have been more targeted than the erratic shooting the following night. However, investigators had yet to find any prior connection between Mr. Wamah and Mr. Carriker. Ms. Outlaw insisted that it was impossible to say how things might have unfolded differently had officers been sent to the right address. However, she said, concerns about Mr. Carriker could have been raised by people who knew him, and who have told police that he had been acting erratically in the days before the massacre.
“We do know that there were some that were around the suspect, prior to this happening, that maybe could have reported some of the information that was known to them,” she said. “Maybe this could have prevented this from happening. But, even then, we don’t know.”
Mr. Carriker, 40, was arrested soon after, and charged with murder and other offenses and is now being held without bond. In the neighborhood, many were unconvinced. Even if police had not immediately arrested Mr. Carriker, some said, they would have been on alert that there was a killer in the neighborhood.
Nyshyia Thomas, whose 15-year-old son, Dajuan Brown, was a victim of the mass shooting on July 3, expressed her opinion that the police department and the city of Philadelphia had let her down. She believed that the tragedy could have been avoided if the police had taken action.
According to the medical examiner, Mr. Wamah died well before the other individuals who were killed in the mass shooting. Additionally, some people who were on the street at the time informed detectives about hearing gunshots on July 2. The police viewed surveillance footage of Mr. Wamah’s house early Sunday morning and observed the same events that the 911 caller had reported, namely a man shooting a gun and then entering the house.