Three shot Sunday at scene of earlier fatal shooting

Three people were shot on Sunday outside the same house where 16-year-old Jordan Ellerbe was gunned down earlier in the weekend.

The shooting punctuated a bloody weekend for Wilmington that saw seven injured by gun violence, six of those teenagers. The shootings killed two teens.

Gunfire erupted on the 200 block of N. Broom St. around 1:30 p.m. Sunday striking two teenage boys and a 21 year old, according to Andrea Janvier, Wilmington police spokeswoman. One 18-year-old was hit in the leg, a 16-year-old was hit in the arm and the 21-year-old was shot in the buttocks. All three were hospitalized and should recover, Janvier said.

Sunday's gunfire was directed at people on the porch where a collection of candles and teddy bears memorialize Ellerbe, an A.I. du Pont High School freshman who was fatally shot in the head outside the home Friday night.

On Friday, Felicia McKinnon, who lives in the home, was summoned to the sidewalk by rapid-fire gunshots. She found Ellerbe with a bullet hole in his head.

On Sunday, she was watching television when she heard the rattle of gunfire.

"I got up and looked to the window. I knew my kid wasn't outside," she said.

After investigators dispersed, the street outside the three-story home she lives in was marked with 18 yellow circles for each of the bullet casings police found. The windows of her green Buick were shattered and a bullet had pierced the car's hood.

Police had burrowed into the grassy knoll on which the home sits searching for the bullets feet away from a spray-painted tribute to Ellerbe.

The recent rash of shootings seems to have struck a chord with Wilmington residents over social media. On Sunday, there were hundreds of photos being uploaded on Instagram with the hashtags #302gunsdown and #prayformycity. Rumors are rampant in the Hilltop neighborhood blaming gang or drug violence for the shootings.

Janvier said police could not comment on the connection between the two shootings as of Sunday. Police have not connected the Hilltop shootings to gunfire across town Saturday in which another teenager was fatally shot in the head.

Around 8 p.m. Saturday, 18-year-old William "Lil Billy" Rollins Jr. was found near the intersection of West 21st and North Washington streets suffering from several gunshot wounds.

A memorial of teddy bears and candles sat on the sidewalk nearby. Investigative markings show where he came to rest on the pavement aside 13 circles marking bullet casings.

"Nobody deserves that," said Merna Suber, who lives four houses down from the memorial. She knew Rollins when he was younger. "They don't realize every time they take a life, they are taking a piece of their family members, too."

Suber knows that pain more than most. She lost her daughter Aunyea Hawkins to domestic violence 12 years ago. She still wears her picture around her neck.

"They are getting away with it," Suber said. "It's time to do something. Don't wait till it hits home, it has already hit too many homes ... They need to bring in more force and lock this city down. It is out of control. It is just out of hand."

Last year there were 127 shooting victims and 23 gun-related homicides in Wilmington, a city of 71,000. So far this year there have been 10 shootings, killing five people.

On Monday morning, Mayor Dennis Williams and police Chief Bobby Cummings will hold a press conference to launch "Operation Disrupt" a new public safety initiative targeting violent crime in the city.

Contact Staff Writer Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.