Salem Woods residents question if they will continue giving Halloween treats after 3 shot
When they noticed a mob of rowdy teens walking through their neighborhood on Tuesday night, some Salem Woods residents wondered if it was going to be a repeat of last Halloween when police were called to break up another unruly crowd.
It turned out to be worse.
Gunfire erupted along Alvin Drive, sending hoards of treat-or-treaters scurrying for shelter and leaving three people wounded by gunfire — two boys ages 16 and 17 and a 20-year-old woman. Two of the injured, police said, were in critical condition.
Now, residents of this Bear development are questioning the future of trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.
"We wrapped everything up and we all just talked about, you know, not giving out candy next year," said Chris Imparato, who helped care for some of the trick-or-treaters who sat on his Emily Court yard Tuesday night when police closed off neighborhood streets.
More: 3 shot in Bear's Salem Woods community as Halloween trick-or-treating ended, police confirm
New Castle County Police spokesperson Cpl. Mike McNasby said detectives are still working to determine what led to the shooting, though said it doesn't appear to be random.
What happened in Salem Woods
As trick-or-treaters went looking for candy in Salem Woods, a group of about 60 teens came onto Emily Court — a cul-de-sac where a resident hosts an annual haunted house in his garage.
"I've been here three years and this is only the second year that this has happened — where there was this big mob of kids that came out of nowhere," Imparato told Delaware Online/The News Journal. Last year, we had another mob of kids and they got chased off by the cops early on.
"This time they went a little longer."
Imparato said the group gathered at the neighbor's haunted house before the group headed to the 100 block of Alvin Drive where neighbors heard several pops a little before 7:55 p.m.
People began scattering trying to find cover.
"Some hiding behind the house here, some hiding behind the house there," he said. "They were on the corner here."
One of the shooting victims, the woman, ended up running onto a neighbor's lawn, residents said.
A woman who was there asked Imparato's girlfriend to hold her child so she could tend to the injured woman.
Arriving officers from the county and state police provided first aid and even used tourniquets on the victims, according to McNasby, a county police spokesperson. All three were taken to Christiana Hospital Emergency Room.
Several trick-or-treaters remained on Emily Court and other nearby streets as police closed off roads to conduct their investigation. Neighbors gave the stranded children water and food until they were allowed to leave about midnight.
Tuesday's shooting is about half a mile from where three people were shot, one fatally, on June 27, 2021, during a house party in the same development. In that incident, police said 22-year-old Aaron Moore was shot dead while at a party on Louis Court. The two other people, a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, were also shot but survived.
Four men were indicted for this incident on charges of second-degree murder and weapons offenses.
Police are asking anyone with information, surveillance video or cell phone video related to Tuesday's triple shooting to contact the Criminal Investigations Unit or Detective Daryl Haines at (302) 395-8137 or by email at Daryl.Haines@newcastlede.gov.
Violent Halloween
Tuesday night's triple shooting in Salem Woods capped a violent few days in Delaware and across the country.
About 20 minutes before the Bear shooting and 60 miles north, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, township of Bensalem, three teens were shot during a brawl. Bensalem police said a 14-year-old was killed while the two others, ages 17 and 19, are expected to recover. Police said they believe a person fired about a dozen shots from inside a car during the fight and then fled.
More: What we know about the fatal Halloween shooting in Bensalem, and why police want your help
A number of Halloween-related shootings also occurred over the weekend, both in Delaware and elsewhere.
Just before midnight Saturday, 21-year-old Abriana Ingram, from Milford, and a 30-year-old Seaford woman were shot at a Halloween party in Selbyville. Delaware State Police said Ingram was getting into her car and trying to leave the party when she was shot.
The other woman was already sitting in a car when she, too, was hit by bullets. Both of the women were innocent bystanders, police said, emphasizing that they had not been involved in the incident, which unfolded after a fight broke out during the party.
Attendees were asked to leave and the fight continued in the parking lot. That's when someone opened fire, police said.
Ingram died at a local hospital, while the Seaford woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Detectives are still searching for the suspect.
A day later, three teens were shot in Laurel after gunfire broke out mid-afternoon Sunday. While there does not appear to be any connection to Halloween events, the shooting claimed the life of 18-year-old Kylee Robinson. Two other boys, a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old, were also shot.
Delaware State Police said the three were sitting on a porch when two suspects "approached the victims on foot and started shooting." They then ran. Police are still searching for them.
Nationwide, the weekend was also a violent one, with at least 12 mass shootings – defined as when four or more people, not including the shooter, are shot or killed – occurring, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Many of the incidents happened at large Halloween gatherings either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
The spate of weekend violence unfolded as people continue to mourn the 18 killed by a gunman last week in Lewiston, Maine. More than 1,000 people turned out Sunday for a vigil.
"A neighborhood bar. A bowling alley. A Halloween party. It seems we can't go one day without a mass shooting in America," Kris Brown, president of the gun violence prevention group Brady, told the Associated Press. "Anger plus firearms is a deadly combination that can escalate any situation into a warzone in seconds."
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com. Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Halloween shooting in Bear leaves questions about holiday's future
