A 25-year-old man who was arrested on gun charges moments after a fatal shooting in Wilmington in February has now been charged with murder.
Shaquan Guilford, who has been in prison since his Feb. 15 arrest, was indicted on Monday for murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
He’s accused of killing 21-year-old Derek Brown at the intersection of East 10th and North Spruce on the city’s East Side on Feb. 15. Brown died at a local hospital.
Surveillance video from the scene shows Brown riding his bicycle along North Spruce Street. As he turns onto East 10th Street, he jumps off the bike and starts to run, but is gunned down after only about five feet.
The footage, reviewed by Delaware Online/The News Journal, shows him laying face down on the ground, the bike resting near a fire hydrant and a gun several feet away on the sidewalk. Police – who arrived on the scene within two minutes of the shooting – later placed several evidence markers where bullet casings landed nearby.
A day after Brown’s killing, chalk markers remained on the sidewalk where the young man fell, an “H” and an “F” marking where his head and feet were. A small amount of blood could also be seen.
Though Brown’s killing was the city’s first homicide in about two months, residents who live in an apartment building where the shooting happened told Delaware Online/The News Journal they were scared and frustrated by his death.
Several women who have lived in the red brick building for about five years said there have been 11 or 12 shootings in the several blocks near the building during the time they’ve lived there.
INITIAL STORY:Residents fearful after man shot dead in Wilmington, city’s first homicide in 2 months
Delaware Online/The News Journal’s shooting database shows that in 2021 alone, there were five separate shootings with eight victims in a three-block area along East 10th Street.
The women said they feel stuck in the apartment building, a 26-unit complex for “very low-income senior citizens 62 years and older,” according to its webpage. It is a $7.1 million United States Department of Housing and Urban Development project.
They said they were thankful a resident who lives on the building’s first floor was not home when the shooting occurred just before 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. A bullet pierced his bedroom window, shattering part of the glass.
At the time, the residents didn’t know anyone had been arrested in connection with the shooting. But two days after Brown’s killing, a city councilwoman said police had arrested the suspect
The department would not confirm this – citing the ongoing murder investigation – but pointed to the gun arrest.
According to court documents from that arrest, police spotted Guilford running away from the shooting scene as they were responding to it.
When the 25-year-old saw the patrol vehicle, he “immediately ceased running and began to walk,” court documents said, then was seen “attempting to partially conceal himself behind a tree.”
Officers got out of the car and Guilford started to run, court documents said. They chased him on foot while other officers chased him in a police vehicle. They ultimately arrested him, though not before he climbed over several fences.
Police found a gun in Guilford’s pant leg, which had one spent shell casing and eight live rounds. After being arrested and arraigned, a Justice of the Peace Court magistrate gave him $34,000 cash bail.
As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not been arraigned for the recent murder or gun charges.
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_
