EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of shooting incidents in Wilmington so far this year. This is the second incident.
Two teens were badly injured Thursday afternoon after being shot on Clifford Brown Walk in Wilmington, police said.
According to the Wilmington Police Department, officers were called to the 1400 block of Clifford Brown Walk just after 4:45 p.m. for reports of the shooting.
There, they found a 16-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl seriously hurt. The two were rushed to the hospital, where police said they were listed as “stable.”
The department has not provided an update on their conditions.
RELATED:New Wilmington police chief makes history as first Hispanic police head in Delaware
The shooting is Wilmington’s second of 2023. It comes following a year of decreased violence in the city, with 107 people shot in 2022, according to Delaware Online/The News Journal’s shooting database.
That was down about 30% from 2021, which saw 152 people shot, according to the database.
The number of shooting incidents was also down about 30% last year.
In 2022, the city recorded 83 shootings, the database shows, compared to 120 in 2021. Delaware Online/The News Journal’s database typically reports slightly higher numbers than Wilmington’s year-end reports due to how the police department categorizes types of shootings, such as murder-suicides.
Thursday’s shooting occurred hours after the city and its police department announced that Wilfredo Campos, formerly a police captain, had been appointed chief. He replaces Chief Robert Tracy, who is headed to Missouri after being selected as St. Louis’ next police commissioner.
Campos’ appointment marked a historic moment for both Wilmington and the state, given he is the first Hispanic police chief in Delaware. Members of the Latino community applauded the appointment, with Wilmington Councilperson-At-Large Maria Cabrera saying she hopes Campos ushers in a new era of community-police relations in the city.
She told Delaware Online/The News Journal on Thursday that Campos is community policing-minded and she’s hopeful that he will renew the push for patrol officers to exit their police vehicles and walk around city neighborhoods as was commonplace under former Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings.
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