Diners in the 821 restaurant across the street ducked for cover. Cars were damaged and a window at the Goodwill store a block away was shattered. Police found more than two dozen shell casings on the ground. So this was no minor incident. As Mayor Baker said afterward, center city remains one of the safest parts of Wilmington.
Statistics reinforce that.
But people from Wilmington's neighborhoods and its suburbs will remember this shooting. And they remember that mother Denise Rhudy was murdered just two blocks away in 1999 while on her way to hear a band perform on a night out with a girlfriend. People will remember and be afraid. People will not be consoled by knowing that these violent incidents were isolated. The Wilmington Police Department and Downtown Visions patrols have good records of maintaining order downtown.