On Sunday evening a group of teens gathered in the City of Chester to celebrate the holiday weekend and the end of the school year. Unfortunately, the presence of guns in the crowd turned this gathering into a chaotic and dangerous event. At this point, one juvenile is in critical condition, and five more have non-life threatening injuries. We know at least three guns were fired and over 50 shell casings have been recovered. This incident is particularly disturbing because of the great progress the City of Chester has made in recent years in reducing gun violence through a law enforcement-community partnership initiated by Mayor Kirkland and me in October 2020. Since the Chester Partnership for Safe Neighborhoods was launched, gun homicides have been reduced by 60% with the overall number of shootings falling by 46% over the last two years.
City and County officials are committed to continuing our collaboration which has made Chester safer. We are asking today for the community’s support and help by sharing any information about this latest incident with the Chester Police (610-447-7931) or with Detectives in the County’s Criminal Investigation Division by calling 610-891-4700.
— Statement by Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer