Two people were shot inside a hospital in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday afternoon, sending the campus into lockdown and forcing the emergency department to stop accepting patients. Police are still searching for the shooter. This happened inside a hospital, where people go when they're already having the worst day of their lives.
What We Know Right Now
CBS News is reporting that officers were dispatched to Wilmington Hospital on the 500 block of West 14th Street at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The call came in as a shooting, and they found two victims.
David Karas, chief administrative officer of the Wilmington Police Department, confirmed the shooting but declined to say whether the two people shot were hospital employees or the shooter himself, citing the active investigation. The conditions of both victims were not immediately available.
ChristianaCare, the health system that operates the hospital, put out a statement saying police are searching for a "possible active shooter" on the campus. The emergency department was placed on divert, meaning ambulances are being rerouted to other facilities. People who need emergency care in Wilmington right now are being sent somewhere else because of this.
Evacuation, Lockdown, and a Very Large Police Response
CBS News footage from Chopper 3 over the scene showed a massive police presence outside the hospital, with people being evacuated from the building. Wilmington Police are leading the investigation, with backup from both New Castle County Police and Delaware State Police.
Karas warned residents near 12th Street and Delaware Avenue to expect heavy traffic as law enforcement floods the area. The public is being asked to stay away from the hospital entirely.
ChristianaCare said in a statement that it is "working closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of patients, employees and visitors" and that its "priority remains the safety and well-being of everyone on our campus." That is the kind of statement no hospital communications team ever wants to have ready to go.
Politicians Offer Prayers, Which Is What Politicians Do
Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride posted on social media that she is "praying for the patients and providers who were on site," adding that she is awaiting more information. Sen. Chris Coons said he is "closely monitoring" the situation and is "praying for everyone's safety, including patients, health care workers, first responders, and law enforcement officers."
To be fair, there is not a lot else elected officials can do in the first hour of an active shooting investigation. The prayers are noted. The situation is still active.
The Bigger, Uglier Picture
Hospitals are supposed to be sanctuaries. They are, legally and historically, places where even the worst actors are supposed to be off-limits. That norm, like so many others, has been steadily eroding for years.
The United States has seen a documented rise in workplace violence at healthcare facilities for over a decade. The Emergency Nurses Association has been ringing alarm bells about it since well before COVID, and the pandemic years made the problem significantly worse. What happened in Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon is a tragedy, and it is also not remotely surprising. That combination should bother everyone a great deal more than it apparently does.
This is a developing story. The facts will change. The underlying reality probably will not.
The Dingo Take
Here is what we know for certain tonight: two people were shot inside a hospital in Delaware, the shooter may still be at large, and the emergency room had to close its doors to new patients while police swept the building. That is the situation. In a functional society, that sentence alone would be treated as a five-alarm emergency requiring a serious policy conversation at every level of government.
Instead, we will get prayers from senators, a brief news cycle, and then we will move on until the next one. The only people who will not move on are the two people who got shot inside a place that exists specifically to heal people, and everyone who loves them.
We will update this story as more information becomes available. In the meantime, if you are in the Wilmington area, stay away from the hospital campus and follow instructions from local law enforcement.
