‘Beyond anywhere close to acceptable’: 13 years later, another murder at youth sports event in Wilmington’s Eden Park

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Zierre McManus was an adolescent in 2012 when gunfire erupted during a youth soccer tournament at the Wilmington park next to his home.

That burst of violence at Eden Park, which saw spectators return fire against two shooters, left three people dead — the event organizer, the getaway driver and a 14-year-old player caught in the crossfire.

So when McManus, now 26, heard another murder had occurred at Eden’s new football stadium this month, he couldn’t believe such carnage had struck once again at the park that’s considered an oasis in the city’s impoverished Southbridge section.

Besides the lighted turf football stadium that some high schools use, the 17-acre park that underwent a $2.4 million overhaul in 2019 also has a new swimming pool, basketball court and playground.

“It makes me sick but in the city, we’ve been dealing with violence” for decades, McManus said last week while visiting Eden Park with his father. “But to be at a football game, it’s just crazy. It’s just like the whole world has become crazy.”

In the latest Eden Park shooting, a masked gunman fired several shots on Sept. 21 at 36-year-old Lamar Massas, who was watching his son play for the New Castle Jaguars against a club from Upland, Pennsylvania. The shooter escaped as hundreds of horrified spectators and players raced for cover. Massas was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

City police have not yet caught the killer, identified a suspect or revealed a possible motive.

In the aftermath of the latest bloodshed at Eden Park, one high school canceled a junior varsity game that had been scheduled at the field last week.

The city of 72,000 people has been plagued by rampant gun violence since the mid-1990s, and this year 61 people have been shot and 11 killed in Wilmington.

While those figures are on a pace to be the lowest in several years, the latest Eden Park murder — in broad daylight at a crowded sports event on a Sunday afternoon — has Wilmington politicians and community leaders stunned, angered and wondering what can be done to stop the mayhem.

“It’s just beyond what’s anywhere close to acceptable,’’ Mayor John Carney told WHYY News in an interview. “Particularly with the young people involved and their families and just to have that trauma that’s going to live with those young kids for a long time.”

Carney lamented the impact on the city’s psyche.

“It really affects it in a negative way,’’ he said. “And arguably they are incidents which you could say are isolated and they don’t affect you, they’re not in your neighborhood, but it just makes everybody feel a little less safe. And that’s really sad.”

Carney, who took office in January after eight years as Delaware’s governor, said he and city police will soon announce a comprehensive approach to reduce violence. Carney said he would prioritize prevention, community engagement and strict enforcement of existing laws.

“It is our number one priority to provide for the safety and to stem this gun violence that’s happening in our city,” he said. “We have some tools, but there’s just too many young people with guns who are involved in criminal activity or willing to use those guns on others. And it’s just really debilitating.”

Eden Park ‘should be a place that’s among the safest in the city’

City Councilwoman Michelle Harlee, whose district includes Eden Park, suggested that as a start, the city should beef up police presence for sports events there.

“When you hear about something tragic like this happening at an event where children and families are there trying to be peaceful and enjoy themselves, it was very disheartening,” Harlee said.

She noted that the city has invested tens of millions of dollars in parks and community centers in response to residents’ pleas to provide outlets for children and teens to explore healthy activities. For example, the Chase Fieldhouse for pro basketball, youth soccer and other sports is also located in her district.

“You don’t have any words because when you consider all the places that something like that could happen, you just don’t think about it being” at Eden Park, Harlee said. “I’m just hoping that the community can come together and start strategizing around how we can increase the peace.”

Alison Windle, who heads the Neighborhood House community center in Southbridge, pointed out that unlike some other sections of Wilmington, Southbridge rarely experiences gun violence.

“We’re almost positive that these folks were not from Southbridge and this violence spilled over into our neighborhood,” said Windle, whose agency offers child care, housing assistance, family services and youth programs. “It’s heartbreaking.”

While city leaders explore solutions to endemic gun violence, Windle said people shouldn’t be afraid to visit her agency or the neighborhood of mostly brick row houses.

“We go out of our way to make sure that you’re safe in our neighborhood and within the walls of Neighborhood House,’’ she said. “I wouldn’t be concerned.”

Carney agreed that the Eden Park killings were “not neighborhood related” and raved about the park’s “beautiful’’ renovation under predecessor Mike Purzycki.

“It’s a location that’s frankly on the outskirts of the neighborhood, and there are people that are coming in at a place where people gather, in both cases,’’ Carney said. “It actually should be a place that’s among the safest in the city when you think about it.”