Police fatally shoot man in Delaware after carjackings and chase that shut down part of I-95
The investigation — which spanned “multiple crime scenes” and involved numerous police jurisdictions — remains ongoing.
Police shot and killed a man in Delaware on Friday after a chaotic shootout that involved two carjackings and a high-speed car chase on I-95 near the Maryland border, according to Delaware State Police.
The incident began around 7:30 a.m. in Newport, near Wilmington, where police responded to calls about a man with a gun. After police arrived, the man fled on foot and exchanged gunfire with officers. At least three bullets struck a technical school bus that was passing nearby, but “no one on the bus was injured,” Senior Cpl. Jason Hatchell said at a news conference.
Hatchell said the man carjacked a nearby vehicle, after a failed attempt on another nearby driver. Police engaged in a “lengthy” car chase that ended in a cul-de-sac on Old Coochs Bridge Road in Newark. The suspect fled on foot, breached the I-95 southbound barrier, and attempted to carjack two more vehicles unsuccessfully before stealing a third vehicle and taking off down the interstate.
During the course of his attempted carjackings on 95, Hatchell said the suspect fired one shot into a bystander’s vehicle, but no one was struck.
More gunshots were fired at different locations on the highway. The timeline of the final moments of the shootout remained hazy Friday evening, but at some point during the chase, police shot the suspect and his vehicle came to a stop.
Police approached him and administered CPR, but Hatchell said “it was immediately apparent [he] would not survive the injuries.”
Hatchell said the investigation — which spanned “multiple crime scenes” and involved numerous police jurisdictions — remained ongoing. Police did not say how many shots officers fired at the suspect, nor whose bullets struck the school bus prior to the high-speed chaos.
“There were many shots fired,” Hatchell said at an evening news conference.
Police said the deceased suspect has been identified but his name is being withheld until his family is notified. Hatchell said one bystander on I-95 was taken to the hospital, though the extent and cause of his injuries remained unclear.
The chaotic scene shut down both lanes of I-95 for several hours, halting traffic from Route 896 to the Maryland border. Aerial footage showed officers focusing on what appeared to be a silver SUV in the southbound lane of I-95.
“We’d like to just thank the public for their patience this morning,” Hatchell said.
That section of I-95 did not fully reopen to traffic in both directions until after 4 p.m.
Police asked anyone who witnessed or has video footage of the incident to contact Sgt. S. Yeich at 302-741-2703 or the DE Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-TIP-3333.