Dover man shot by police officer faces weapons charges
The Dover Police Department charged a 21-year-old man who was shot in the thigh Friday by a member of the Dover Police Street Crimes Unit with illegally carrying a deadly weapon Friday night.
The man, identified as Terrance Fletcher, of the 100 block of N. Governors Blvd. in Dover, was shot in the upper thigh following a brief foot chase through downtown that ended with him lying on the pavement next to a day care and community center.
Increased police patrols were put into place over concerns about unrest, and two people were arrested.
Dover Police Chief Paul M. Bernat said the chase started on South New Street after authorities received a tip at about 1 p.m. that he was carrying a handgun.
Fletcher “ran through a small, narrow pathway and at that point; one of the other Dover police officers fired and shot Mr. Fletcher in his thigh,” Bernat said.
Fletcher was taken to Bayhealth Kent General Hospital in Dover with a flesh wound. He has since been charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited.
He is currently being held on $20,000 cash bail, Cpl. Mark Hoffman said Friday night.
Following department policy, the officer, whom police would not identify, has been placed on administrative leave as the shooting is investigated. He fired a .40-caliber Glock handgun, police said.
Police did say the officer is white and has been on the force for three years. Fletcher is black.
Bernat said he would not discuss what prompted the police officer to fire or how many shots were fired. All officers are armed with stun guns; Bernat said he did not know why it was not used.
A loaded handgun was found “in close proximity” to Fletcher shortly after the pursuit ended, Hoffman said.
Officers came to the area from two sides. Fletcher was shot by an officer in the parking lot of a daycare, which police said he was running toward during the time of the shooting. Fletcher was also being pursued by police from behind.
Dover police do not have body cameras. There are street cameras located in the area of New Street and South Governors Avenue, but it is unclear what direction they face. Police said they would review footage from them, said Dover Police spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman.
The shooting created unrest and at times angry comments along South New Street in the area of the shooting, with dozens of officers called from Smyrna, Milford, Capitol Police and Delaware State Police to help keep order at one point.
Police numbers continued to grow, with a police helicopter circling the area before 3 p.m. and some officers dressed in green paramilitary or SWAT clothing taking positions around the investigation scene.
“We’re trying to resolve the crowd and, as we can, educate them with any details we can release,” Hoffman said. “We’re trying to investigate the scene, secure it so we can do an accurate investigation.”
Two people were arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges that weren’t disclosed, Hoffman said. The majority of the crowd, however, dispersed peacefully, he added.
Police officials said that there would be increased patrols throughout the city Friday night. A community meeting, organized by local pastors and other groups, is planned for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Center of Faith along New Street.
The Rev. Rita Mishoe Paige, pastor of the Star Hill AME Church in Dover, said the scene was “unsettling” but that she did not want to comment further until there were more facts about what happened.
Paige said later she was not surprised that the incident happened in that part of the city, but also said she was “disappointed.”
“We’ve been making steps and strides toward making the community safe and non violent,” Paige said. “To have something like this happen today says that our work still isn’t done.”
Although Bernat would not comment or confirm other details, Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen said that a male pointed a gun at a police officer who is part of the city street crimes unit “and the officers shot him.”
That unit was formed last year after a spate of shooting incidents. The unit consists of officers from Dover Police and the state’s probation and parole office. One of their officers was involved in the pursuit.
Police would not confirm all parts of the mayor’s statement, and on Friday evening Christiansen said that his information had not changed.
As officers secured, photographed and examined the parking area near the Kent County Community Action Agency center where Fletcher fell, a woman hurried along South Governors Avenue to the area, then began wailing as friends and a Dover police officer attempted to calm her.
Kim Butler, who directs the Community Action Agency office, said adults and children inside the building heard two gunshots. The building also houses Drop-a-Tot Day Care center.
“We jumped up, came out. We saw a man down, a cop holding his hand; you could see him bleeding,” Butler said. “Saw a lot of people hollering, ‘You didn’t have to shoot him. You didn’t have to shoot him.’ ”
One younger officer was pacing nearby, she said. “He was like, all distraught, holding his head,” and at one point said to no one in particular, “I’m sorry.”
Butler added that the building’s parking area had becoming the scene of constant foot traffic, police chases and trouble. A broken-down fence between the agency building and the backyards of New Street homes had worsened the problem.
Nyraina Walker said that she didn’t see the shooting, but that she and others were angry because of how police were treating them.
“They are shooting every black young kid out here. It doesn’t matter. They are shooting us over hoodies; they are shooting us over Skittles. They are shooting us because we are fat. They are shooting us because we are black,” she said.
Tensions between the city’s African-American community and police have been high for years. Most recently there was outcry over a video that showed a white officer kicking a black man in the head during a 2013 arrest. That officer, Cpl. Thomas Webster IV, is facing charges of second-degree assault. A trial is set for November. The ACLU has sued the city and police department over the matter, as well.
The Dover Police Department has 94 sworn officers. Seventy-eight are white, 12 are black, three are Hispanic and one is Asian, according to statistics provided to The News Journal earlier this year. The city population of 37,366 in the most recent census shows 48.3 percent are white, 42.2 percent are black and 6.6 percent are Hispanic.
About 10 new officers have been added to the ranks since those statistics were provided. Hoffman said he did not know the current racial breakdown.
Christiansen said before the press conference that officials “made it very clear a while back that we are not going to tolerate people pointing guns – whether they are pointing guns at one another or at our police officers, and it’s just not going to happen in Dover, Delaware.”
NAACP Central Delaware Branch President La Mar Gunn said Friday evening that the he doesn’t think there will be problems in the community overnight.
“I think that people here are an educated people and have not lost total faith in the process,” Gunn said.
Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271, on Twitter @JonOffredo or joffredo@delawareonline.com.
Contact Jeff Montgomery at (302) 463-3344 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com