Published on June 16 | Updated on June 22
WILMINGTON, Del. (KYW Newsradio) — The suspect in Tuesday's shooting inside ChristianaCare's Wilmington Hospital, which left one person dead and another wounded, has been arrested in North Philadelphia.
Wilmington police identified the man as 23-year-old John Wallace-Bey, of New Castle. He is accused of shooting two 19-year-olds inside the hospital around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
He was arrested later that evening in North Philadelphia and is awaiting extradition to Delaware, where he will be charged with murder, attempted murder and other charges.
John Wallace-BeyWilmington Police Department
The hospital was placed under a lockdown for several hours.
One victim, 19-year-old Ethan Hillman of Smyrna, died from his injuries. The other victim is in critical but stable condition.
Investigators believe the shooting was a targeted, isolated incident. A ChristianaCare spokesperson told our partners at NBC10 that Wallace-Bey and the two victims were all employees at the hospital, and that Wallace-Bey had been fired on Tuesday. On Monday, June 22, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said Wallace-Bey had gotten into an argument with the two victims and asked a supervisor if he could leave early.
"He was not sent home, not fired, or disciplined in any way. Mr. Wallace-Bey was expected to return the next day for work," Jennings said.
Wilmington Mayor John Carney, at a press conference that evening, extended his sympathies to those inside the facility at the time.
“It’s hard to imagine what they were thinking as they were barricaded in rooms across the hospital, as our law enforcement teams went through and cleared each of the floors,” said Carney.
Emergency room employee Brian Pfeffer was there when he heard two shots he likened to firecrackers.
“It’s a very intense feeling. I can’t really describe it. It’s just fight or flight,” he said, “and the trainings tell you to get out of there, so I just got out of there.”
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
Once they got the all-clear, the hospital reopened. ChristianaCare, in a statement, said Wilmington Hospital is fully operational and praised the employees for putting patients and the community first.
The 622,000-square-foot Wilmington Hospital also serves as the corporate headquarters of the Delaware-based health system ChristinaCare.
