Nine people were shot late on Halloween night, Saturday, October 31, when an unknown suspect opened fire into the crowd at an outdoor party in the 18000 block of Beach Highway in Ellendale, Delaware, the Delaware State Police said in a news release posted on Sunday, November 1. A 17-year-old girl from Seaford was taken to an area hospital with life-threatening gunshot injuries, where she died. Eight other people were wounded.
Source: Delaware State Police
Troopers were called to the Beach Highway address at approximately 10:00 p.m. on October 31 for reports of a shooting, police said. Arriving troopers found multiple victims with gunshot wounds at the scene. Ellendale is a small town in Sussex County in southern Delaware, and Beach Highway is the state route that runs through the community.
Who was hurt
Beyond the Seaford teenager who died, a 20-year-old man from Seaford was taken to hospital with life-threatening gunshot injuries and is in stable condition, the State Police said. Seven more people were taken to area hospitals with gunshot injuries described as non-life-threatening: two 17-year-old males from Selbyville, a 19-year-old female from Ellendale, a 20-year-old female from Seaford, a 20-year-old female from Greenwood, a 20-year-old male from Seaford, and a 22-year-old female from Laurel. The name of the teenager who died is being withheld until her family can be notified, police said.
What police say happened
The preliminary investigation found that the party was being held outdoors when an unknown suspect opened fire from a neighbouring property into the crowd, striking all nine victims, according to the State Police release. Police have not announced any arrest, have not identified a suspect, and have not given a motive. NBC10 Philadelphia, reporting the same police account, said the shots were fired into the crowd of people attending the party and that investigators are urging anyone who was there to come forward.
Source: NBC10 Philadelphia
Local coverage in Delaware reported that police closed the road in the area of North Old State Road and Beach Highway after the shooting, following standard protocol, and that the area was still under police control around midnight, with investigators working to establish whether there was any connection to a separate shooting the same night in Newark, Delaware. State Police have not announced any link between the two incidents.
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit asks anyone who attended the party or has information to contact Detective B. McDerby at (302) 741-2821, send a private Facebook message to the Delaware State Police, or call Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) 847-3333.
Governor responds as Delaware reels from two Halloween shootings
Delaware Governor Matt Meyer issued a statement on Sunday about the shootings in both Newark and Ellendale. “No family should have to receive the call that someone they love has been shot. Today, people in Newark and Ellendale are facing pain and fear that no one should have to endure,” the governor said, adding that Delaware State Police were working with Newark Police and were investigating the Ellendale shooting. About an hour after the Ellendale gunfire and roughly 50 miles to the north, six people were shot on East Main Street in Newark near the University of Delaware campus — a separate incident that police there are investigating independently.
Support for victims and witnesses
The State Police said its Victim Services Unit and the Delaware Victim Center are available around the clock for victims, witnesses and families who have lost a loved one, through the toll-free hotline 1-800-VICTIM-1 (1-800-842-8461).
What happens next
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit is actively investigating, and the next steps are the identification of the shooter, who remained unknown in every police update issued on Sunday, and the formal notification of the family of the teenager who died, after which her name can be released. No court dates or charges exist yet because no suspect has been announced. For Punjabi and South Asian families across Delaware, Maryland and the wider mid-Atlantic — including truckers who run the Delmarva routes around Route 13 and the state highways through Sussex County — the case is a reminder that the investigation is still at the appeal-for-witnesses stage: anyone who was at the Beach Highway party, or who passed through the area around 10 p.m. on Halloween night, is being asked to speak to detectives rather than rely on social-media accounts, which police have not verified.