BEAR, Del. (AP) - The Latest on the shooting of a Delaware state trooper (all times local):
4 p.m.
Delaware state police say a man believed to have shot a state trooper outside a convenience store is now barricaded inside his own house.
Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, a state police spokesman, says investigators tracked the gunman to his home in Middletown, about 15 miles south of where the trooper was shot earlier Wednesday afternoon.
Fournier says the man has fired multiple shots at officers from inside the house. No other officers have been hurt. Police have yet to provide an update on the condition of the officer who was shot earlier.
Fournier says hostage negotiators are on the scene and have established contact with the gunman in an effort to persuade him to surrender peacefully.
People who live nearby are being told to stay in their homes with the doors locked.
___
3:20 p.m.
Delaware state police say they have converged on a gunman who “continues to fire rounds at police officers” after a state trooper was shot outside a convenience store.
Police said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the gunman fired shots in a residential community in Middletown and officers from numerous agencies are on the scene. Police say the gunman “has refused orders to surrender” and is firing at the officers.
People who live in the subdivision of two-story homes are being urged to stay inside and lock their doors. Schools in the area have also been locked down.
The shooting of the trooper happened earlier in the day about 15 miles north of where police confronted the gunman.
___
This story has been corrected; the events happened Wednesday, not Thursday.
___
2:50 p.m.
A school district south of where a Delaware state trooper was shot is on lockdown because of what school officials “an armed individual in the vicinity.”
The Appoquinimink School District in southern New Castle County announced shortly after 2:15 p.m. that all schools and offices are on lockdown. Students and staff are being kept inside school buildings and parents are being told not to go to school to pick up their kids. Students will be dismissed after police give the all-clear. The district includes 17 schools, many of them in the Middletown area.
Media outlets report a heavy police presence in Middletown in the aftermath of the shooting, which occurred earlier Thursday afternoon. Police have confirmed that a trooper was shot and taken to a hospital for treatment. Witnesses described a gunman fleeing the scene.
___
2:05 p.m.
A witness says he saw a gunman fire shots at a Delaware state trooper who was already lying on the ground.
Clarence Travers tells The News Journal of Wilmington (https://tinyurl.com/lkrns62) that he heard gunfire while sitting at a red light and saw a police officer fall to the ground.
After the initial gunfire, Travers says he saw a man get out of a car and shoot the officer on the ground multiple times before getting away.
State police have confirmed that an on-duty officer was shot Wednesday afternoon outside a convenience store in the town of Bear, but they have not corroborated Travers’ version of events.
Another witness, Monica Moore, says she heard shots as she was driving past the store and saw the trooper face down on the ground.
___
1:55 p.m.
Delaware State Police say a trooper has been taken to a hospital after being shot at a convenience store.
Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, a police spokesman, confirmed that a uniformed trooper was shot Thursday afternoon at a convenience store on Pulaski Highway in Bear.
The trooper, who was on duty at the time, was taken to Christiana Hospital.
More details were not immediately available.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.