Tim Hetherington never thought he’d be the intended target of a shooting.
Yet that’s where the 43-year-old found himself last week in Wilmington, as he was on his way from work on the southeast side of the city.
Hetherington, who gave Delaware Online/The News Journal permission to use his name, said his Tuesday afternoon began like most others.
He was headed to a physical therapy office near Little Italy a little after 2:30 p.m. when he encountered several four-wheeled, ATV-type vehicles and a dirt bike. Working in the city, he’s seen them before. They can be bothersome, he said, but he didn’t initially think much.
As he made his way through Wilmington, however, he ended up between the dirt bike and an ATV, and a second four-wheeler that was behind him. This, he said, angered the man on the dirt bike.
“He kicked my truck, gave the finger and told me to frickin’ back off or whatever,” Hetherington said. “I gave him the finger back, like leave me the hell alone.”
But if Hetherington thought that would be the end of the incident, he was wrong.
As he continued on, trying to ignore the group, he came to a red light near Lancaster Avenue. The man on the dirt bike, he said, began banging on the passenger door. Hetherington thought about running the red light to avoid the group but decided things were still under control.
As Hetherington made a left turn, however, he said the men tried to get him to veer off the road. He sped up, trying to get away. The four-wheelers caught up, he said, and he slowed down in hopes they’d zoom by.
INITIAL STORY:Lancaster Avenue shooting in Wilmington ends with victim at city arts school
When they didn’t pass him, Hetherington said he “floored it.” “Kind of all scared” at that point, he said he knew he had to get away.
Then he heard the gunshots.
“I instantly slammed on my brakes and went into panic mode,” Hetherington said. “I called the police and turned around to try to see where they were going.”
As he gave a dispatcher directions to where the group sped off to, Hetherington said he didn’t see a stop sign and drove through an intersection, colliding with a state transportation vehicle.
While he waited for police to arrive, Hetherington noticed that though he was uninjured, his truck had been struck with a single bullet.
He would later learn, however, that an “innocent woman” driving on Lancaster Avenue hadn’t been so lucky.
‘I might not be here’
The 47-year-old woman, who was in a blue, four-door sedan with her dog, was also driving in the 2900 block of Lancaster Ave. – outside Paradise Nails Bar – when the shots rang out.
At least one bullet entered her vehicle, hitting her in the arm, witnesses told Delaware Online/The News Journal last week. She quickly turned a corner about a block away and pulled up outside Cab Calloway School of the Arts, which shares a building with Charter School of Wilmington.
Though school isn’t yet back in session, students and staff were there that day. Several people, who huddled in a small group outside the school Tuesday afternoon discussing the incident, said the woman jumped out of the car and they sprang into action.
As they waited for paramedics to arrive, several women began first aid on the driver, who was bleeding in the street. One witness said a tourniquet was applied. When EMS arrived, medics boarded her into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital.
Hours after the shooting, police said the woman was listed as “stable.” The department has not provided an update as to her condition.
Just before 3:10 p.m. – about 25 minutes after the incident – a lone Wilmington officer arrived outside the school and parked behind the woman’s car. He later took custody of her dog.
Meanwhile, back outside Paradise Nails, police worked to photograph and collect shell casings that had landed on the sidewalk and in the street.
Hetherington, who was being evaluated at the scene of the crash, said he also found a shell casing in his truck. It went into his tailgate, through the cab and exited near the passenger-side seatbelt.
“Seeing where it was, and thinking if my kids were in that car, or if he aimed a little bit to the left, I might not be here,” he said. “It’s sinking in kind of hard.”
ATVs, dirt bikes ‘out of control’
Across New Castle County, dirt bikes and ATVs are notorious for causing problems – both for residents and police.
On any given day, a search of the Nextdoor app will yield complaints from residents about the off-road vehicles clogging traffic or wreaking “havoc” by swerving between cars or “doing wheelies.”
For police, the vehicles are a headache because of their speed and design, as drivers can escape quickly if an officer tries to stop them. A number of local departments, including Wilmington, also have policies prohibiting chases except under very specific circumstances, thus hindering their ability to pursue them. This is largely for traffic and pedestrian safety reasons.
But Hetherington said Tuesday’s shooting proves dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles are “out of control” in the city.
“If they wanted to attack me, I get it,” he said. “But now some innocent person, who apparently was picking up her dog from a dog groomer or a doggy daycare and minding her own business, is hurt.”
Hetherington added that he was glad the woman wasn’t injured more than she was, and it was fortunate there were no kids in his car or hers.
“But still, this poor person was probably enjoying her day,” he said.
While he’s not holding his breath that there will be immediate change when it comes to how police deal with nuisance – and sometimes dangerous – off-road vehicles, Hetherington does hope the city and county “can come up with some action plan moving forward.”
Officials, he said, need to do something beyond Wilmington Police Department’s periodic Twitter reminders about the city laws “addressing illegal dirt bike, ATV riding.”
“Maybe they can put officers on ATVs in the city, then it’s ATV against ATV,” Hetherington said. “Because it’s only getting worse.”
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_
