Man shot in chest in Wilmington

A man was shot in the chest Sunday afternoon in Wilmington, city police said, with a large crowd growing disorderly and throwing rocks and bottles at officers.

Several officers were hit by thrown objects, Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings said from the scene, but none required hospitalization.

The shooting was reported at 4:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Jefferson St., emergency dispatch officials said. Traffic remained restricted, cordoned for blocks around the site, as police investigated Sunday night.

The injured man was taken by ambulance to Christiana Hospital, according to Cummings, who said, “at this point, we believe he’s stable.”

Friends and family waiting at Christiana Hospital for news of the injured man’s condition identified him as Daywan Scott, 23, of Wilmington. They said he was out on the block with his girlfriend when he was shot.

As the crowd grew after the shooting in agitation and size – to an estimated 300 to 400 people – officers from Delaware State Police and New Castle County Police Department were called in to assist with crowd control.

The additional officers also were called in as a precaution, Cummings said.

No count was available, he said, but there were dozens of officers from all three departments as city police investigated the shooting.

The state and county officers who assisted already were in the city, Cummings said, because of the pope’s visit to Philadelphia prompting traffic and crowd concerns in Wilmington.

“There were a couple of arrests,” Cummings said, adding the arrests were for disorderly conduct by onlookers in the crowd.

One of those arrests came when a man who was standing near the police tape drew a knife, the chief said. The unidentified man immediately was tackled and arrested, he said. No injuries were reported.

No description of the shooter or details of the circumstances of the shooting were available Sunday night, Cummings said.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the Wilmington Police Confidential Tip Line at (302) 576-3990 or provide them through Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333 and www.tipsubmit.com.

Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.