MATTHEW MCKAY
Staff Reporter
The fatal police shooting of 19-year-old Kadir Skinner in Wilmington has intensified calls for police accountability and transparency among members of the Delaware community.
Skinner was shot on June 24 near 24th and Carter streets in Wilmington. According to a joint statement from Wilmington Mayor John Carney and Police Chief Wilfredo Campos, a forensic examination determined that Skinner sustained a single gunshot wound to his upper left buttocks area.
Police officers on patrol in the area were monitoring a large gathering and claimed to have observed Skinner exiting a residence and pointing a gun at the crowd. Bodycam footage from the incident shows the officer exiting his vehicle and engaging in a foot chase with Skinner immediately preceding the shooting.
According to body-camera footage, officers called for medical assistance approximately two minutes and 40 seconds after shots were fired, then almost a minute later transported Skinner to the hospital in a police cruiser rather than waiting for an ambulance.
Authorities have stated that a gun was recovered from the scene of the shooting, though the circumstances surrounding the encounter remain under investigation by the Wilmington Police Department and Delaware Department of Justice, and could take months to close.
Protests in response to the incident have highlighted concern over medical response time, police injustice and accountability.
For some Delaware residents, the shooting has brought a topic of national discussion very close to home.
“These kinds of things happening so close to you, and to people that you love, is a very scary feeling,” Eleanor Malgiero, a junior actuarial sciences major raised in Wilmington, said. “In Wilmington specifically, it’s predominantly people of color, and I think making sure that these people feel protected rather than like they are a threat or anything like that would be very helpful.”
Malgiero, who learned of Skinner’s death through Facebook posts in local Delaware groups, said the incident reinforced concerns she already had about law enforcement.
“I’ve always been kind of skeptical about law enforcement in general,” Malgiero said. “And so just hearing about it kind of solidified that worry.”
For Icyss Hitchens, a senior criminal justice major at the university and president of the university’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Skinner’s death raised concerns about the relationship between law enforcement and the communities officers serve.
“It was very disheartening to find out that something as horrific as that could happen in the city of Wilmington,” Hitchens said. “Just being a Black person and having interaction with the police, you don’t necessarily have to be doing something wrong for you to feel uncomfortable or frightened.”
Hitchens said the shooting prompted discussions within the university’s NAACP chapter about police-community relations and how officers interact with residents.
“It’s very upsetting that someone in our community — someone’s life had to be taken because of the circumstances of the entire situation,” Hitchens said.
She said the incident also raised questions about police transparency, especially as more information became available following the release of body camera footage.
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty as to if what is put in the articles is actually true,” Hitchens said. “They’re kind of trained to walk into situations with their guard up rather than walking into a situation to help a certain person or to relieve the conflict.”
Hitchens believes that justice requires transparency throughout the investigation and accountability for officers whose actions are found to be improper.
“Honestly, what I want to see from that is officers facing repercussions,” Hitchens said.
As the investigation continues, students’ reactions reflect broader concerns about public trust and police accountability in the wider Delaware community. With potential litigation also on the horizon, the case raises questions about how authorities will address the shooting and what accountability, if any, will follow.
