Gun violence solidifies Wilmington's unwanted reputation

A 19-year-old man relied on a metal cane as he crossed the Wilmington intersection of North Pine and East 27th streets last week.

The young man, who did not want to give his name, was one of the 138 people shot in the city in 2014.

Amid the surrounding blocks of seasonally decorated homes, it is not obvious that this corner is within a half-mile of more than a third of the city's 28 homicides in 2014.

That includes five of the past eight slayings, which edged Wilmington one homicide shy of a record-tying year, but still got it branded by Newsweek as "Murder Town USA." Only four of the city's 2014 homicides resulted in someone being charged, police said.

Of the 11 killings less than a half-mile from this corner of well kept row houses was that of 43-year-old Derrick Caudle, the most recent slaying reported by police.

Some in the city, including Mayor Dennis Williams, said The Newsweek article was a "grossly inaccurate characterization." Wilmington's top cop, Police Chief Bobby L. Cummings, called the "Murder Town" label unfair.

"We have a city that is judged on per capita numbers," Cummings said.

One doesn't have to look far to see Cummings' argument. Just to the north, Chester, Pennsylvania, with a population of about 33,000 people – almost half of Wilmington's 71,000 residents – had 30 homicides last year. Chester's first homicide of 2015 occurred in the first hour of the new year.

"I think our city is treated unfairly," Cummings said. "We don't get the best press that goes out about our city, but we have a city that is moving forward.

Except for the occasional police chase, sirens and sounds of gunfire, the gun violence mere blocks away rarely registers with residents near Pine and 27th streets. But it still casts its shadow over the area, like it does over much of Wilmington.

The 19-year-old was shot once in the right leg in late November. When asked what he thought was driving Wilmington's gun violence, he said: "People get money hungry. I don't know. People just don't think when they do stuff."

He added that some are involved in street violence because of what they have experienced. He feels the city needs to do something different to create a change, but he doesn't know what and suspects things will continue downward.

"It's going to get worse," the man said as he entered a nearby home through the back yard. "It always gets worse."

Reputation vs. what's going on

FBI statistics released in November showed that Wilmington's rate of violence was 1,625 per 100,000 residents, more than quadruple the national average. A News Journal analysis showed that Wilmington ranked third for violence among cities of 50,000 to 100,000 people, and sixth highest – up from eighth a year earlier – for 750 cities with 50,000 or more residents.

Already, a 36-year-old man was wounded by gun fire hours into the new year. The man was shot multiple times in the area of N. Locust and E. 13th streets about 2:20 a.m. Thursday. He was reported in stable condition.

The gun and street violence only maintains Wilmington's reputation.

"The fact that we are still doing this to each other, is cause for alarm, is a concern, does need to be dealt with," said Yasser Payne, a professor at the University of Delaware who studies Wilmington.

Sometimes a homicide or a shooting has a way of leaving imprints that these incidents occur all the time and that has a way of casting a shadow on a community or city. But Wilmington is far from a war zone where the chances for gun violence are a sure thing, Payne said.

"You have all of those competing forces that are just creating this impression that Wilmington is a wild wild west scenario," Payne said, adding no one would go to Wilmington or stay there if they were targeted just for walking on the street.

In 2014, initiatives were put into effect to tackle Wilmington's street violence.

One of those initiatives was the creation of a homicide unit, a team that includes five Wilmington police detectives, two retired detectives who had been investigating cold cases and two federal agents. Since its launch in October, Wilmington's homicide unit has solved one case, the killing of Donald W. Smith, who was found dead in November near a swimming pool in Eden Park.

Only three other of the 28 homicides have resulted in charges, police said.

In September, the city announced the establishment of "Cease Violence," a program that sends former offenders and individuals familiar with tough neighborhoods into hotspots to try to deter troubled adults from leading a criminal life. The program uses outreach workers to reason with troubled adults and introduce them to work and educational opportunities.

Use of ShotSpotter, which detects gunshots and pinpoints their locations on a map, led to arrests in four shootings in November. The new technology allows police to arrive at the scene faster so they can find shell casings and even witnesses.

ShotSpotter doesn't guarantee witnesses will talk, however, and a lot of people are still hesitant to speak to police.

Johnny Johnson, who was mowing a lawn in the 2700 block of N. Pine St. last week, said that when he gets to his home near 22nd Street and Concord Avenue, he stays indoors. He also avoids getting involved –– that includes reporting suspicious activity going on in his neighborhood.

"When I get done work, I go in my house, close my door and lock it, and that's it," Johnson said. "I don't come back out until it's time to work.

"It's not the way to live, but I don't want to be out there and get caught up by a stray bullet either."

This fear is something that needs to be dealt with, Wilmington Councilman Michael A. Brown Sr. said.

"We have allowed other folks' actions to put fear in our lives and we don't know how to deal with it," Brown said.

To resolve these problems, everyone has to work together and not just government, Brown said. People can divide responsibilities on what they can do to tackle the violence and its root.

"Take a few people and work on the crime issue. Take a few people and work on the education issue. Take a few people and work on the economic development issue ... ," Brown said, adding everyone should stop being afraid and play a part.

Chief Cummings said the department has been working on building relationships with the community, this includes more uniformed officers, including top brass, walking the city's hotspots.

Officers have continued the "Book 'Em Cops and Kids Literacy Initiative," where police give books to needy children. And last month, the department held a "Coffee with a Cop" program where community members were invited to speak with officers from Wilmington Police Department's Community Policing Unit.

"Through these forums that we're having and these different civic association meetings that we are attending, we believe we're making inroads into getting around some of that information," Cummings said. "And we know that every incident that happens, you're not going to have a person who comes straight out and tells you what happened.

"But when you can build a relationship with someone where they will give you that information anonymously, as long as you can protect them, and we can get directed in the right direction, we see that we're going to have greater inroads."

The police department plans to do more in the coming year, including continued work New Castle County and state police, as well as federal law enforcement. More visible to the public, graduates from the current police academy should be out in May.

"So that's going to give us a greater presence also in the street," he said.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299,

eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

2014 homicide victims

Allen Whitt, 28 - Jan. 1

Sean Dale, 28 - Jan. 4

Kevin Banner, 41 - Feb. 16

Samuel Lee, 61 - Feb. 24

Sinque Hagler, 24 - April 2

Theodore Jackson, 39 - April 3

Tracy Green, 46 - May 2

Dewayne Brown, 29 - May 8

Daron Allen, 38 - May 22

Alphonso Boyd, 28 - May 27

Michelle Zakrzewski, 46 - May 30 - stabbing death

Jason Turner, 32 - June 21

Brian Rivers, 35 - June 30

Crystal Brown, 43 - July 6

Otis Saunders, 27 - July 9

A'Niah Davila-Torres - July 31 - blunt force

Volante Boyd, 29 - July 22 - blunt force

Marquis Pressey, 23 - Aug. 7

Purnell Terence, 34 - Aug. 8

Brandon Wiggins, 26 - Aug. 19

Brian Irby, 23 - Aug. 31

Scott Elliott, 43 - Aug. 31 - blunt force

Howard Watkins, 33 - Aug. 31

Marquice Houston, 20 - Sept. 9

Donald W. Smith, 57 - Nov. 11 - Strangulation

Elliot Tahmere, 18 - Nov. 22

Gene Malone, 23 - Dec. 5

Derrick Caudle, 43 - Dec. 19