Neighbors express shock after 14-year-old Wilmington boy shot and killed
WILMINGTON, Del. - A neighborhood in Wilmington wants to know who would murder a 14-year-old boy?
A peaceful afternoon on the 500 block of 35th Street in Wilmington, shattered by the abrupt and brazen sound of gunfire.
"A black car pulled up. We heard four or five shots," said a neighbor.
A candle marks the spot where 14-year-old Christopher Smith was shot and killed. It happened before 6 p.m. Tuesday, just a couple of hundred yards from DuPont Middle School. A young life stolen and a community in pain.
Neighbors did not want to be identified.
"Just feeling really, really sad and overwhelmed," the neighbor added.
"My mind is everywhere right now, because I have a teenager and I couldn’t imagine getting that phone call that something happened to my child," said a second neighbor.
One neighbor said she knew Smith. She works for the Brandywine School District where the victim attended school.
"He was very kindhearted, so for this to happen to him, I’m not exactly sure what happened. I’m sad for his family and praying for his family," the woman said.
"It really is time for change," Wilmington City Councilman Chris Johnson stated.
Johnson said enough is enough.
"When these things happen right next to a school, it really hits home. As a leader in this city, I’m tired of going to console families," Johnson remarked.
Johnson said the city of Wilmington needs money, quickly, to pull itself out of the growing and devastating gun violence epidemic.
"We really need both state and federal resources," Johnson said. "Finding programs that would give these gentlemen options and getting them engaged to have some other way out of neighborhood."
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