Two drive-by shootings in two days prompt concern by Dover police

While the Dover Police Department doesn't categorize shootings, two drive-by style shootings last week have given capital officials cause for concern.

A 21-year old man was shot in the head with birdshot late Thursday night in Dover when he jogged to the back of his residence on in the unit block of Village Drive to retrieve money for a tab at Tom's Bullpen. 

The victim was treated at Kent General Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

The night before, a drive-by shooting left a 36-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the head after police say suspects drove by the unit block of Stevenson Drive in the Manchester Square community and fired multiple shots.

According to Dover police, the victim was taken by others to Kent General Hospital and is hospitalized in stable condition. 

Dover Police Department spokesman Master Cpl. Mark Hoffman said the two incidents are likely unrelated.

"When you have similar style shootings back to back, it raises eyebrows in the department," he said. "We don't think the two shootings are linked, but the possibility exists and we are looking into it."

Nine shooting incidents in Dover in the first six months of 2018 have included one homicide. Four of the shootings appear to be drive-bys.

"It's not an uncommon method to shoot from a vehicle or being near one for escape," Hoffman said. "It's unusual, though, to see it back-to-back."

In 2017, there were 20 shootings, one fewer than the year before. Shootings are defined as an incident in which a bullet strikes a victim or property. In 2015, there were 26 recorded shootings, with seven resulting in homicides. There were 17 shootings in both 2014 and 2013, according to DPD data.

In May 2017, when Marvin C. Mailey Jr. was named the city’s first African-American chief, he said decreasing the number of violent crimes in Dover would be the department’s priority.

“A bullet knows no friend and that’s the problem," Mailey said then.