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After 6 shot in Wilmington, mayor says 'we need to stop this type of reckless behavior'

Mayor Mike Purzycki called for an end to "reckless behavior" in Wilmington the day after six young men were shot – the most injured at one shooting in the city in recent memory. 

"This is the type of incident that you hope will be solved through trust and cooperation between the police and community," Purzycki said. "We need to stop this type of reckless behavior and together, I know we can."

The mayor's statement said it was a complex case and "lots of people are working on it."

The statement came after an initial period of silence from the city's top officials, including police Chief Robert Tracy and Wilmington City Council president Hanifa Shabazz. 

Around 5:30 Monday, the Mayor's Office released a second statement in which Purzycki and Tracy announced that the corner store at North Pine and E. 10th streets, near where the shooting occurred, had been ordered closed as a public safety precaution.

The owner of Bill’s Deli Market at 940 North Pine Street was notified a short while ago to close the store immediately, the statement read.

Purzycki said the city code allows the police chief to order the closure of a property when there is concern about a matter of public safety.

“As this investigation continues," Tracy said in the statement, "I have determined that it’s in the best interest of citizens in the immediate area to close this business to protect customers and area residents. I will meet with the property owner to discuss developing a plan for improved public safety."

According to the City’s Licenses and Inspections Department, the store has been cited at least eight times in the past few years for improper licensing, state health code violations, improperly placed trash and storing junk and debris, as well as the need to repair exterior masonry and windows, the staement said. 

None of the violations resulted in the accumulation of enough points to take action against the deli as a nuisance property under city law.

Wilmington police closed Eden Park following a July 2012 shooting and questioned people before allowing them to leave the park.

Gunfire rang out about 7:10 p.m. Sunday near the corner of 10th and Pine streets in the city's East Side neighborhood. 

Tiffany Brown was sitting on a West 10th Street stoop when she heard at least seven gunshots around the corner on North Pine Street. 

“Everybody heard the shots. It was like pop, pop, pop,” she said. 

She saw young men scatter, running away down the streets. 

“They were all just boys,” Brown said.

She saw some of the victims go into the market at the intersection. 

Brown called 911, and police arrived quickly. 

Warning: The following Instagram video contains explicit language and content. It shows a tourniquet being applied to an apparent gunshot victim after the shooting in Wilmington Sunday night.

Six victims, four in their teens, were taken to local hospitals and were listed in stable condition as of 9:45 p.m. Sunday.

Susie Grimes, who heard the gunshots from her home blocks away on 10th Street, was not surprised by the lack of official statements on Monday.

"Nobody is going to acknowledge the problems there," she said. "Because if you know it exists, why aren't you doing anything about it?" 

Grimes said she hasn't noticed a drop in crime in the area, as the city officials have pointed to.

"I don't know what world they live in," she said.

Other residents, such as Alycia Peay, echoed her thoughts.

"Why is Market Street a priority?" She asked. "There are bigger problems in the city."  

Peay's 1-year-old son was playing in front of a rowhome at the time of the shooting. She is a new mother and doesn't want her child exposed to gun violence. 

"I don't feel comfortable here," she said. 

Another mom, Latonya Roane, is ready to pack her bags after Sunday's shootout. 

She had just come home with her children and their friends from the park when the shooting began in front of her home. Roane hit the ground and laid on top of the children. She has lived on West Tenth Street for two and a half years and witnessed three shootings.

"I'm terrified," Roane said. "I don't get no sleep. I'm so done. I'm so over it."

Jaron Johnson, an East Side community activist, said he is disappointed because even with all the work residents are putting into the neighborhood, shootings still happen.

"It's all these people, I don't know where they come from, but they congregate on that corner," Johnson said. "It's the drug artery of the East Side."

A lifelong East Sider, Johnson said most of the victims were not familiar, and strangers to the residents.

Wilmington has not experienced a shooting with this many victims since 2012. Five people were shot and three killed on July 8, 2012, at a soccer tournament in Eden Park.

During that incident, two men with guns approached the crowd and one fired several shots at Herman Curry, the tourney's founder, police said. Curry's family told The News Journal that he was a potential witness for the state in its murder case against one of the suspects, Otis Phillips.

Spectators then opened fire on the gunmen, inciting a spray of bullets that left nearly 50 shell casings strewn around the field and parking lot.

Curry, 47, died, along with 16-year-old Alexander Kamara, who was waiting to play his soccer match, and suspect 43-year-old Sheldon Ogle, who drove the getaway car.

Suspect Jeffery Phillips was struck in the leg, and a 33-year-old Baltimore man was hit in the shoulder. 

SHOOTOUT:  Death penalty, life in prison in Eden Park shootout

Few details released

Wilmington police on Monday released the ages of the six people shot near 10th and Pine streets.

The injured were a 17-year-old boy and five men, according to Wilmington Police Department spokesman David Karas. Three of the men are 19, one is 26 and one is 30.

All but the 17-year-old and the 30-year-old have been released from the hospital, Karas said. Those two are in stable condition.

No other information about the incident was released Monday, including whether there is any threat to the public. 

"We are grateful that there were not more serious injuries," the mayor said in a statement. "Chief Tracy and his team are investigating this incident and will release more information when additional facts become known." 

 Anyone with information can contact Detective Kane at (302) 576-3961.

This marks the 21st shooting Wilmington police have responded to this year, according to The News Journal's database. Eight people have been killed in 2019. 

WHAT IS KNOWN: 6 shot in Wilmington

Wilmington violence: Residents react to 6 shot: City needs to do more for its kids