Fifteen Shot and One Dead: Delaware's Two Halloween Shootings, an Hour Apart

Two Halloween-night shootings seventy-three minutes apart left fifteen people shot in Delaware, one of them dead, in a state of just over one million people. They came at opposite ends of Delaware: one at an outdoor party in Ellendale, the other on a sidewalk in Newark across from the University of Delaware. No arrest has been announced in either case.

Fifteen Shot and One Dead: Delaware's Two Halloween Shootings, an Hour Apart

NEWARK, Del. — The first calls came from Sussex County at about 10 p.m. The next came from New Castle County at 11:13 p.m. By Sunday morning, Delaware had recorded two mass shootings on one Halloween night, nine victims in a small town south of Milford and six more on a college main street, and a 17-year-old girl from Seaford was dead.

Two Shootings, Seventy-Three Minutes Apart

State police say troopers were called to Ellendale at approximately 10:00 p.m. Saturday. Newark Police say officers responded to East Main Street and Choate Street at approximately 11:13 p.m. CNN reported that Delaware, a state with just over 1 million people, had two mass shootings on Halloween night, including near its largest university. Spotlight Delaware described it as one of the state's most violent days in recent memory. No agency has said the two shootings are connected, and none has suggested a link. As of Monday morning, no suspect had been arrested or publicly identified in either case.

The Party Next to the New Hope Center

Delaware State Police said the shooting happened during an outdoor party, when an unknown suspect opened fire from a neighboring property into the crowd. Delaware Online reported that the scene was an empty lot next to the New Hope Recreation and Development Center, where a shed, piles of dirt, a white event tent and a small tiki bar were visible Sunday morning. A man at the property said he was cleaning up but declined to comment. State police gave the address as the 18000 block of Beach Highway.

Nine Shot in Ellendale, and No Suspect

State police said nine victims were struck in Ellendale, and that their ages ran from 17 to 22. A 17-year-old girl from Seaford was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and died; her name is being withheld until her family can be notified. A 20-year-old man from Seaford was hospitalized in stable condition with life-threatening injuries. The other seven — two 17-year-old boys from Selbyville, a 19-year-old woman from Ellendale, a 20-year-old woman from Seaford, a 20-year-old woman from Greenwood, a 20-year-old man from Seaford and a 22-year-old woman from Laurel — suffered injuries police described as non-life-threatening. The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit is investigating.

The Sidewalk Across From Choate Street

Newark Police said the shooting occurred on the south sidewalk of East Main Street, directly across from Choate Street. Delaware Online placed the scene across from Choate Street and Klondike Kate's. Main Street was closed for about five hours between South Chapel and Haines Streets. 6abc/WPVI reported that officers were called around 11:15 p.m. after reports of a mass shooting near the University of Delaware, that police were already nearby when the gunfire broke out, and that viewer video showed students running from the area as officers rushed in with guns drawn. Police said there did not appear to be an ongoing threat to the public.

Six Wounded in Newark, One in Critical Condition

Newark Police released the conditions of the six wounded on Sunday evening. A 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the back remained hospitalized in serious condition. A 20-year-old man, a University of Delaware student, was in serious condition with a collapsed lung. A 21-year-old woman with a graze wound to her leg was treated and released. A 15-year-old boy shot in the back was in critical condition. A 15-year-old boy shot in the foot and a 16-year-old boy with multiple gunshot wounds were both in serious condition. The wounded in Newark ranged in age from 15 to 21.

The Victim Who Was Carrying a Loaded Gun

WDEL reported that one of the six, a 16-year-old boy from Wilmington, was found with a gun. Newark Police said a loaded firearm was recovered from him as part of the investigation. He is charged with possession of a firearm by a person under 21, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and breach of release. He was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court #3 and given $60,100 cash bail, and he remains hospitalized in police custody. The charges are weapons offenses, not the shooting itself. Police have not said the firearm is connected to the shooting. He is charged, not convicted, and has not been publicly named because he is a juvenile.

"He Squeezed My Hand"

Spotlight Delaware interviewed a bystander who gave first aid on Main Street. He found three victims with gunshot wounds to the leg, back and stomach. Seeing that one of them had no one rendering aid, he removed his shirt, balled it up and pressed it against the wound to try to stem the bleeding. "He squeezed my hand, kind of like his last hope," the witness, identified by the surname Singleton, told Spotlight Delaware. The account is among the few public descriptions of the minutes after the Newark shooting.

The Worst in Delaware in Seven Years, by Victim Count

Both incidents were the worst mass shooting in Delaware in seven years by count of victims, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive and reported by Spotlight Delaware. The largest number of victims ever recorded in a Delaware shooting was six, in a 2019 Wilmington incident. Ellendale's nine victims and Newark's six both exceed that mark. Across the two scenes, fifteen people were shot. One died. Fourteen survived with wounds.

The Laws Delaware Already Had

Delaware requires a handgun permit to purchase, issued by the State Bureau of Identification since 16 November 2025, with training, fingerprints and a background check; concealed-carry license holders are exempt, and litigation continues after a federal court denied a preliminary injunction. The permit applies to handguns only, and licensed dealers run the federal NICS check on long guns. The state restricts "assault weapons" under the 2022 Lethal Firearms Safety Act and caps magazines at 17 rounds. It requires near-universal background checks and has a red flag law enacted in 2018. It has no waiting period. Nothing in the record establishes how any firearm in either shooting was obtained.

A Campus Closed on Monday

The University of Delaware sent its first campus alert minutes after the shooting, told students who live in the area and needed help reaching their residences to call campus police, and posted a second update at 1:40 a.m. WDEL reported that Monday's classes were canceled. Officials stressed the decision was not based on a current safety concern, and Newark Police continued to indicate there was no ongoing threat. The university was already scheduled to be closed Tuesday for Election Day, so classes resume Wednesday. Counseling walk-in support was set for Monday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Warner Hall. In a campus letter, President Laura A. Carlson asked students to keep the victims "in your thoughts and hearts as they receive care," and acknowledged "a lot of questions and rumors."

"This Is Not Normal"

Governor Matt Meyer said 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," he said in a statement from Dover. He thanked law enforcement officers and emergency personnel who answered the call, and said state police were engaging with Newark Police while also investigating the Ellendale shooting. "Every Delawarean deserves to feel safe in their community," Meyer said. "This is not normal. We must never accept gun violence as a part of life in Delaware."

A Weekend That Was Not Only Delaware's

CNN reported that more than a dozen people were killed and over 90 injured in shootings across the country over the Halloween weekend, with at least 13 dead and 92 injured in what it described as one of the most violent in recent years. The network counted nearly 400 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, more than one a day, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Among the others: a pregnant woman killed at a Spirit Halloween store in Fairfield, California; four killed and at least 15 injured in three shootings in Dallas' Deep Ellum district; two killed and 11 injured at two Halloween parties in Jacksonville, Florida. The weekend came two weeks after a shooting at an Oregon elementary school killed three students and a teacher.

What Detectives Are Asking For

Both investigations are open, and both agencies have turned to the public for the thing they say will move them fastest: video. Newark Police opened an evidence link for footage and photographs from Main Street and asked anyone with information to contact Detective Paige Klein at 302-366-7100, extension 3480. State police are directing Ellendale witnesses to Detective B. McDerby at 302-741-2821, or to Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) 847-3333, where reward information may be available. State police also pointed anyone who witnessed the shooting, or who has lost someone, to its Victim Services Unit, reachable around the clock at 1-800-VICTIM-1.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: CNN, Delaware State Police, Newark Police Department, Delaware Governor's Office, University of Delaware, 6abc/WPVI, WDEL, Spotlight Delaware, Delaware Online/The News Journal, CBS Philadelphia, Cape Gazette, WBOC and NBC Philadelphia. Photographs: WDEL (Newark Main Street scene); Simone Sampson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Governor Matt Meyer). Cover: Global 1 News editorial image.