Main Street’s bar district, steps from the University of Delaware, was packed with Halloween revelers when gunfire sent hundreds of them running.
Six people were shot about 11:13 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, on the south sidewalk of East Main Street in downtown Newark, Del., directly across from Choate Street, Newark police said. All six were taken to area hospitals, and police did not release their conditions. Police said there did not appear to be an ongoing threat to public safety. No arrests had been made and no suspects publicly identified as of Sunday, Nov. 1.
Landon Singleton, a witness, said he saw victims lying in the driveway of Trader’s Alley and found three people shot in the leg, the back and the stomach. He pressed his shirt against one man’s wound to slow the bleeding.
“He squeezed my hand, kind of like his last hope,” Singleton said.
Videos circulating on social media captured multiple shots and the stampede that followed, with at least one person struck by an oncoming car. That person walked away, according to the video.
“People were running, screaming. They had helicopters in the sky flashing lights on people,” witness Jayden Ngalim said.
A Campus Alert 16 Minutes Later
The University of Delaware’s emergency alert system notified the campus community of police activity at 11:29 p.m., about 16 minutes after the gunfire, and sent a second alert at 1:41 a.m. Sunday about the ongoing investigation. The university told anyone who needed help getting home to call the University of Delaware Police Department.
Across the Street From Klondike Kate’s
Newark police cordoned off the scene near East Main and Choate streets, in the 100 block of East Main Street, blocks from the campus and in an area students fill on weekends. Officers examined debris in the driveway leading to the Trader’s Alley parking lot, between Cameras Etc. and Mango Mango, and combed Main Street for evidence. Main Street was closed from Library Avenue through Academy Street for about five hours while they worked, and the city’s mobile command unit was set up in a parking lot behind Cameras Etc.
The sidewalk where the shooting happened sits across from Klondike Kate’s, the bar and restaurant. As rumors spread, the business said in a Facebook post Saturday night that the shooting did not happen inside the restaurant or on its property.
A Shooting Delaware Rarely Sees
Intentional shootings in Newark are exceedingly rare; one of the last came in 2021, and it was the city’s first shooting this year, according to a local news database.
Gov. Matt Meyer issued a statement Sunday on the Halloween shootings. “This is not normal. We must never accept gun violence as a part of life in Delaware,” he said. Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., said she was “heartbroken to wake up to the news of last night’s shooting.”
Delaware State Police spent the same night on a second scene. About 10 p.m. in Ellendale, in Sussex County, someone fired from a neighboring property into an outdoor party in the 18000 block of Beach Highway, striking nine people. A 17-year-old girl from Seaford died, state police said.
Newark police are asking the public for help identifying whoever opened fire and the circumstances that set off the gunfire, and want anyone with video or photos to submit the material through a secure link. Tips can go to Detective Paige Klein at 302-366-7100, ext. 3480, or pklein@newark.de.us. Main Street reopened early Sunday, and the investigation remained active.
