A Philadelphia man recently charged with killing five men and injuring two children has reportedly been identified as a cross-dressing Black Lives Matter (BLM) supporter.
The suspect, who is 40 years old, issued social media posts supporting BLM and has posted photos on Facebook of himself wearing “a bra, a women’s top and earrings with his hair braided long.”
According to the New York Post, he has posted messages such as, “How do you know if an evil spirit is following you,” as well as photos of a map listing “black massacres” across the U.S. captioned, “We kept the receipts.”
EXCLUSIVE: Cross-dressing gunman behind Philly bloodbath is BLM backer https://t.co/ITm1fHX5KK via @MailOnline
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) July 5, 2023
One of the suspect’s social media posts showed a person holding a pistol with the statement, “Wherefore art thou opposition so I may slide upon thine block and runneth down on thee.”
Tina Rossette, 49, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the suspect had “an aggressive approach to some things in life.” Rossette lived with the suspect in 2021. Her daughter, Cianni, 24, said the suspect would show her a handgun and “was trying to get me comfortable around guns and stuff like that.”
In 2022, the Rosettes left the suspect. Tina said the suspect had been in “a dark place.”
On July 3, 2023, police responded to gunfire around 8:30 p.m. They chased the suspect, who continued to fire his gun before being caught. The suspect was reportedly using a police scanner to monitor police and was armed with a rifle, pistol, extra magazines, and a bullet-proof vest. Officers found over 12 shell casings in an eight-block area.
“You can see there are several scenes out here,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. “We’re canvassing the area to get as much as we can, to identify witnesses, to identify where cameras are located, and to do everything to figure out the why.”
“Thank God our officers responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown,” Outlaw concluded.
The victims of the shooting have been identified as Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; Daujan Brown, 15; and Joseph Wamah Jr., 31.
