Kenney slams gun dealers after Philadelphia mass shooting: "sued until they're out of business"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Tuesday that the dealer who sold guns to the person involved in a mass shooting in Kingsessing "should be sued until they're out of business."
"Any day that something like this happens, it's a tragic occurrence," Kenney said before Tuesday's Fourth of July Celebration of Freedom Ceremony.
Kenney questioned where the shooter got the gun, which police characterized as an AR-style rifle. The alleged shooter also had a handgun and was wearing a bulletproof vest, police said.
"Where does a person like this get a semiautomatic handgun? Where does a person like this buy a Kevlar vest?" Kenney said. "This country needs to reexamine its conscience when it comes to Congress or the state legislature and try to figure out how we get these guns out of these people's hands."
The mass shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Monday near 56th Street and Chester Avenue. Five people were killed and two children -- 2 years old and 13 years old -- were injured.
Police identified the victims Tuesday as 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt, 29-year-old Dymir Stanton, 59-year-old Ralph Moralis, 15-year-old boy Daujan Brown and 31-year-old Joseph Wamah, Jr.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said a suspect was taken into custody on the 1600 block of Frazier Street. Outlaw said the alleged shooter was wearing a bulletproof vest, had multiple magazines, a scanner, an AR-style rifle, and a handgun.
Another person is in custody, Outlaw said, but their connection to the shooter wasn't immediately clear.
Kenney said the suspect "apparently had a stockpile of guns in his house."
The mayor said every member of someone who died or was injured in the incident should link up with a law firm and "take these gun dealers down."
"Because they don't care, all they care about is money," Kenney said. "The carnage that they allow to happen is just ridiculous. It's just a terrible situation and I don't know the answer to it, but I do know that the state legislature and the U.S. Congress need to do something about it."
"A person like that walking down a city street with an [AR-style gun]," Kenney added, "and shooting randomly at people is a disgraceful situation in the United States of America, whether it's July 4th or any other day."
