1 dead, 1 injured in Wilmington, Delaware hospital shooting
Police are investigating a fatal shooting at ChristianaCare Wilmington Hospital. One person was killed and the suspect is still at large.
WILMINGTON, Del. — A 23-year-old man accused of a fatal shooting inside a Delaware hospital has been identified and faces multiple charges, including murder, authorities announced June 17.
Police identified the suspect as John Wallace-Bey of New Castle, Delaware, and he was taken into custody in Philadelphia on the night of June 16, following an hours-long manhunt after the shooting. He is awaiting extradition to Delaware, the Wilmington Police Department said in a news release.
Police said Wallace-Bey faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of possession of a firearm during a felony and carrying a concealed weapon.
Wallace-Bey was denied bail at a preliminary arraignment in Philadelphia County Municipal Court on June 17, according to court documents obtained by the Delaware News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. His extradition hearing is scheduled for June 29.
The shooting occurred on the afternoon of June 16 at ChristianaCare Wilmington Hospital, where officers responded to a report of a shooting and later found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Police said one of the victims died and the other was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Police said the shooting appears to have been a targeted, isolated incident, but the motive is still under investigation.
Timeline of hospital shootings
Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos said at a press conference on June 16 that officers were called to ChristianaCare Wilmington Hospital around 3:30 p.m. local time after receiving reports of shots fired inside the building. The entire downtown Wilmington area surrounding the hospital was in chaos.
Police asked the public to avoid the area as they searched the 622,100 square foot facility. The hospital was initially placed on lockdown, but the order was lifted hours later as police began clearing the scene.
“Police located two gunshot victims, one of whom tragically succumbed to his injuries,” Campos said at a news conference. In a June 17 news release, police identified the two victims in the incident as 19-year-old men.
Police have not said where in the hospital the shooting took place, nor do they know how the weapon got into the facility.
Wilmington is Delaware’s largest city, with a population of over 73,000 people, and is also known as the “Corporate Capital of America” due to the state’s large number of companies. The city is approximately 30 miles south of Philadelphia.
Suspect and victim are hospital staff
A health system spokesperson told the Delaware News Journal on June 17 that the victim and Wallace-Bey were both “employees at ChristianaCare at the time of the incident.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Wallace-Bey was an intern at ChristianaCare. He works in the regional medical technology department and had been working at the hospital since February.
The incident was the latest violent attack at a U.S. medical center in recent years. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings “face a significant risk of workplace violence.”
Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a 2025 article from the American College of Surgeons noted that health care workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than other occupations, and that “93% of assaults in these types of incidents are committed against health care workers.”
“My heart breaks for the victims and their loved ones, the Christiana Care team, and the entire city of Wilmington,” Wilmington Mayor John Carney said in a June 17 statement.
“Violence has no place in our community,” Carney said in a statement. “It is particularly disturbing that such violence and tragedy occurred in a facility whose primary function is to provide life-saving care. Healthcare workers and patients should never fear for their safety.”
Contributor: Esteban Parra, Delaware News Journal
