Suspect in custody after deadly, targeted shooting at Delaware hospital: Police

(WILMINGTON, Del.) — A 19-year-old man died and another was critically injured in a targeted shooting at a Delaware hospital, police said.

The shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon at a hospital in Wilmington, prompting a lockdown.

The suspect in the shooting — 23-year-old John Wallace-Bey — was taken into custody Tuesday night in Philadelphia, about 40 miles northeast of Wilmington, and is awaiting extradition to Delaware, police said.

Law enforcement officials earlier told ABC News a hospital employee was suspected of shooting two co-workers.

“Our preliminary investigation has determined that this was a targeted, isolated incident,” police said in an update.

The shooting occurred at Wilmington Hospital around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Both shooting victims were 19-year-old men, police said. The wounded victim remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police said Wednesday.

The name of the victim who died will be released at a later time, police said.

Wallace-Bey faces charges including first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and carrying a concealed deadly weapon, police said.

Police believe the incident is strictly a workplace shooting, the law enforcement officials said.

“Regardless of what the motive is in this incident might have been, there is never an excuse for violence, and there is never an excuse for gun violence,” Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos said during a press briefing Tuesday.

The hospital was on lockdown as officers searched the building, though the lockdown has since been lifted, police said Tuesday.

“I want to offer my thoughts and prayers for the employees at Wilmington High Hospital, who I know experienced a terrible day today,” Wilmington Mayor John Carney said during Tuesday’s press briefing. “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.”

Carney commended the law enforcement officers who responded for the “bravery that they showed in the face of this unthinkable threat.”

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer condemned the deadly violence.

“Every Delawarean deserves to feel safe, whether at home, at school, at work, or seeking care at a hospital,” he said at the briefing. “Today is a sobering reminder that no one is immune from the devastation of gun violence.”

Meyer said the incident hit close to home for his family, noting that just minutes earlier, he went with his wife, Dr. Lauren Meyer, an emergency room physician, as she reported to work at the hospital.

“What I saw were heroes going to work in that building, and heroes who were involved in life-saving efforts leaving at the end of their shift,” he said.