DA charges Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz in deadly Delaware County Linen shooting

The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office is charging Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz for Wednesday morning’s fatal shooting at Delaware County Linen in the city of Chester.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer and Chester Police Commissioner Steven Gretzky announced that Rosado-Ruiz, 61, has been charged with two counts of homicide, multiple counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and a firearms charge.

“This was a cold-blooded shooting,” Stollsteimer said.

Prosecutors allege Rosado-Ruiz, a fellow employee, arrived at the business, pulled out a handgun and opened fire on his co-workers at 8:30 a.m. — killing two people and wounding three others. The shooting was partially captured on video.

“It’s frightening to see him walking around like that,” Stollsteimer said.

Two of the victims were listed as stable and one was in critical but stable condition, Gretzky said.

Officials said Rosado-Ruiz had a dispute with one of his female co-workers and she became his first victim. After arguing with her, he stepped outside, made a phone call and returned to shoot her. He then walked around the building firing his weapon at other coworkers, fatally shooting brothers Leovanny Peña and Giguenson Peña.

Rosado-Ruiz then tried to exit the building and noticed the female co-worker, his first victim, and shot at her again, but either missed or ran out of ammunition. He then escaped in his vehicle, a black Scion. Police officers from nearby Trainor spotted his car and arrested him within minutes. Rosado-Ruiz didn’t try to pull out his gun, officials said.

Gretzky said his officers arrived to a “very chaotic scene.” One of the deceased victims had collapsed near the entrance of the building.

“First responders encountered another victim who was shot multiple times — and I have to commend my officers, because they put a tourniquet on the male and then in the laundry area, they put him in a laundry bin and they wheeled him outside to get him to better medical assistance,” Gretzky said.

Stollsteimer said Rosado-Ruiz didn’t have a criminal history. He has been an employee at the business since 2016.

“My understanding is that he has been complained about by other employees of the business,” Stollsteimer said. “I believe there was a meeting of employees with the owner of the business the day before. This was not unusual that he was having a verbal altercation or verbal problem with one of the employees.”

Stollsteimer couldn’t comment on reports that Rosado-Ruiz openly carried a weapon at work.

“This is a continuing investigation. As more information comes to light, it will flush out that story for us,” Stollsteimer said.

The mass shooting at the 2600 block of West Fourth Street brought Chester to a halt. The regularly scheduled City Council meeting ended early in the aftermath of the crisis.

Delaware County Linen reopened for business Thursday.