Police: Delaware officer shot, Pennsylvania fugitive killed

Authorities say a Delaware police officer was wounded and an attempted murder suspect from Pennsylvania shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire at a motel in Delaware.

The Rehoboth Beach boardwalk (Butch Comegys for WHYY)

The Rehoboth Beach boardwalk (Butch Comegys for WHYY)

A Delaware police officer was wounded and a fugitive suspect from Pennsylvania shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire at a motel in Delaware, authorities said Friday.

The wounded officer is a member of the Milford Police Department and was assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Delaware. Attorney General Kathy Jennings said the task force had located an attempted murder suspect who had fled from Pennsylvania and was trying to capture him Thursday evening at an Econo Lodge in Rehoboth Beach when the suspect opened fire.

“The suspect was killed in the firefight,” Jennings said in a prepared statement.

The shooting is being investigated by the Delaware State Police, which as of Friday had not acknowledged that there was an exchange of gunfire or that police had shot someone.

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Delaware State Police said there had been reports of shots fired coming from the area of a motel. State police and surrounding departments responded to the scene and determined a shooting had occurred.

The names of the suspect and wounded officer, and his condition, have not been released.

State police have said only that there had been reports of shots fired coming from the area of a motel, and that state police and surrounding departments responded to the scene.

It’s unclear how many officers, and from which agencies, fired at the suspect. Jennings indicated that there were three officers at the scene.

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