Wilmington, Delaware, officials have released new details about the shooting that left one young intern dead and another hospitalized at ChristianaCare’s Wilmington Hospital.
Authorities confirmed the victim, who was killed, is Ethan Hillman, a 19-year-old from Smyrna, Delaware. The man accused of the shooting, John Wallace-Bey, 23, of New Castle, was an IT intern working alongside Hillman at the time of the attack.
On Monday, June 22, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings held a press conference alongside Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos and incoming ChristianaCare CEO Jenn Schwartz to lay out the timeline of events leading up to the shooting on June 16.
A grand jury has indicted Wallace-Bey on seven felony charges, including murder, attempted murder, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, and three counts of possession of a firearm.
What Led Up To The Shooting
According to officials, Wallace-Bey, Hillman, and another 19-year-old intern named Jayden Ellis were all part of a six-month non-clinical IT internship program through an outside organization called Code Differently, based in Christiana.
The three were working together that morning when Wallace-Bey got into an argument with Hillman and Ellis. After the disagreement, Wallace-Bey asked to leave for the day and was allowed to go home.
He was not disciplined, sent home as punishment, or fired, and was expected back at work the next day, Schwartz said.
Instead, Wallace-Bey returned to the hospital around 3 p.m. that same afternoon. He used his valid employee badge to get back into the building, since he had passed the same background screening every ChristianaCare hire goes through.
Once inside, he confronted Hillman and Ellis in the basement administrative area where the interns had been assigned that day, then pulled out a .38 caliber handgun and shot each of them once, according to Jennings.
After the shooting, Wallace-Bey fled through the hospital’s main entrance and made his way to the Wilmington train station, where he boarded a SEPTA train headed for Philadelphia.
He was later arrested that same evening in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Reports indicate police used license plate readers to track a Toyota RAV4 connected to him before taking him into custody as he tried to catch a rideshare.
Investigation Continues As Community Mourns
Jennings said investigators believe Wallace-Bey acted alone and that the shooting was targeted, not random.
She noted Wallace-Bey had no prior criminal record and that no coworker had ever raised concerns about him being a threat. The gun used in the shooting still has not been recovered, and Jennings said her office remains focused on locating it.
Ellis remains hospitalized but is said to be improving and able to communicate with his family. Hillman’s family has asked for privacy as they grieve his loss.
Schwartz added that ChristianaCare has since expanded weapons screening to all employee entrances at the hospital, not just visitor entrances, in response to the attack.
Wallace-Bey is currently being held in Philadelphia while he awaits an extradition hearing scheduled for June 29, when prosecutors will move to have him sent back to Delaware to face the charges against him. Officials say more updates are expected as the case moves forward.
