Neighbor tried to save teen fatally shot in Dover

A neighbor said she tried to revive the 19-year-old Smyrna High School student who was shot and killed Wednesday night on Harmony Lane in Dover.

Sherbre Saunders said she arrived home just after Gary Adams was shot, although she didn't see it happen. Saunders said she pulled into a parking spot and told her 12-year-old daughter to run in the house. Saunders then said she ran over to help Adams.

"I just turned my head around, and I saw this teenager laying there, bleeding out from his mouth," she said. "I ran over there and tried to administer CPR. I turned to him and tried to find a wound, and I couldn't find a wound so I just kept trying to do CPR."

"He had a mom and a dad, and I just didn't want him to go," she said. "I don't even know him. It was too early for him to go. I don't even know the reason why, but it was just too early; nobody deserves that."

Saunders said he had a pulse when police arrived, who also began administering first aid.

She said she went to the hospital and met with Adams' family, and told his mom and dad that she tried to help him. She said she had never seen Adams in the neighborhood before. She said she didn't even know how he got shot.

Saunders said she doesn't think that anyone from the neighborhood was involved in the shooting. "This is not that type of neighborhood," she said.

Adams' family declined comment Thursday when contacted by The News Journal, saying they were trying to deal with the loss.

Smyrna High School administrators were contacted Wednesday night, so they could arrange to have crisis counselors available on Thursday, Hoffman said.

On the high school's website, school officials posted a simple statement, headlined "Sharing an Important Message."

In full, the statement said, "We received sad news that one of our Smyrna High School seniors was fatally injured last night. All of our schools are safe, and we are providing grief counseling to the staff and students of our Smyrna family during this difficult time."

A woman walking her daughter home Thursday near Smyrna High said her son knew Adams, adding that most students found out about the death Wednesday night on social media.

"Facebook is where everybody found out about it," she said. "Everybody is truly upset. They said he was a really good kid."

One student leaving the high school said Adams enjoyed rapping. The boy, who did not want to give his name, said students had been told to wear red to school on Friday in honor of Adams.

Patrik Williams, the district's assistant superintendent, declined to comment about the tragedy.

Dover police were asking for the community's help Thursday in identifying the shooter and learning what happened.

A 911 call Wednesday night reported the gunfire about 8:45 p.m., Cpl. Mark Hoffman said.

Officers arrived to find Adams on the ground along Harmony Lane near the back of the Walker Woods development in north Dover, Hoffman said.

Adams had suffered a single gunshot wound, he said. He was taken to Bayhealth Kent General Hospital in Dover, where he later died, Hoffman said.

This was Dover's fourth homicide of the year, Hoffman said.

Thursday morning things were quiet along Harmony Lane. Many of the parking spots were empty outside of each row of townhouses. There was no police tape or evidence markers.

Another woman, who declined to give her name for fear of retribution, said a fight led to the shooting. She said she called 911 when the fight occurred.

"All I know is that they were fighting, then I heard a loud sound, then 'pow,' the guy was on the ground," she said. "It's senseless."

She said that education is the key to keep this sort of senseless violence from happening. Someone needs to tell these kids that they can do something with their lives and not fall into violence, she said.

"If you don't get nobody to tell the kids that, they're never going to learn," she said.

Anyone with information about Adams's shooting is asked to call the Dover Police Department at (320) 736-7111, give tips at doverpolice.org or through Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333.

Reporter Esteban Parra contributed to this story.

Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271, on Twitter @JonOffredo or joffredo@delawareonline.com. Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.