Dover’s Mayor after shootings, “You’ve been warned”
DOVER, Del. – In less than a week there have been five shootings in Dover, and those are just the ones we know about. The uptick in violent crime hasn’t gone unnoticed and we’re told police have stepped up patrols.
Two of those shootings happened in the Manchester Square neighborhood. People who live there tell 47 ABC they’re worried about what might happen next.
“Some people are scared. Some people are more like it’s a part of their every day life,” says Sade Justice, who lives in the Manchester Square neighborhood.
The first shooting in the neighborhood this week was a drive by, on Monday. Luckily, no one was hurt but the subject got away. Then on Thursday, two people were reportedly standing outside around 10:30 at night when two men walked up to them and shot them both, several times. They also got away.
Sade Justice has lived in the neighborhood for a few years. She tells 47 ABC she knows the people causing trouble aren’t from Dover. “It’s not anyone within the community. It’s outsiders that bring the problems and the trouble,” says Justice.
Dover’s Mayor, Robin Christiansen, agrees with that and is sending a clear message to the people who are causing the problems, “I would like to put out a message to these folks that decided to come to Dover, use guns and act out. We are going to make a special effort to pay attention to take these people off the street.”
Something else that Justice says she wants off the street are the guns. She says it might take stricter laws to stop the crime in the area. “Toughen the gun laws here and make sure they keep the guns out of the hands of the wrong person, whether it’s streetwise for not.”
The general feeling across the City is that no one wants this violence to continue. “We are not going to tolerate gun violence in the City of Dover,” says Mayor Christiansen. “You’ve been warned.”
“The whole community just needs to pull together because it’s all fun and games when someone else gets hit. But when it’s their own kind or their own family then all hell is going to break loose,” says Justice.
47 ABC also reached out to Dover Police and six Dover council members but no one was available on Friday to tell us how they feel about this latest string of violence.
If you know anything about these recent shootings, many of which remain unsolved, you are asked to call Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Cash rewards are being offered for information leading to arrests. Callers can remain anonymous.
