A 23-year-old man was taken into custody Tuesday evening in Philadelphia after a fatal hospital shooting hours earlier in nearby Delaware, police said.
One person was killed and another was injured Tuesday afternoon by a shooter, who fled, police said.
The attack was reported at 3:30 p.m. at ChristianaCare Wilmington Hospital in Delaware, Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos said at a news conference.
Officers found both victims but no shooter, he said.
Campos offered no details about the victims, including their identities or the survivor’s condition, “out of respect for the families.”
More than two hours after an early evening news conference about the attack, police said they had a suspect in custody in Philadelphia, which is a little more than 30 miles west-southwest of Wilmington. On Wednesday police identified the suspect as John Wallace-Bey of New Castle.
“Our preliminary investigation has determined that this was a targeted, isolated incident,” the department said late Tuesday. “This investigation remains active and ongoing, and further information will be released as soon as possible.”
Wilmington police said charges and extradition were pending.
Mayor John Carney said the attack shook Wilmington as workers at the facility were “barricaded in rooms across the hospital as law enforcement cleared each of the floors.”
“This has been a terrible day for our city,” he said at the news conference.
Gov. Matt Meyer said his wife, Dr. Lauren Meyer, was reporting for work at the downtown hospital when the attack happened.
He called the hospital employees “heroes involved in lifesaving efforts.”
Sen. Lisa Blunt, D-Del., said she had been briefed on the situation.
“As we wait for further information, I’m praying for our community and grateful for the swift and ongoing law enforcement response,” she said in a statement.
Wilmington, the state’s largest city, with a population of more than 73,000, is sometimes referred to as the “corporate capital of America” because so many large corporations locate their legal addresses there.
