Why Should Delaware Care?
A recent police shooting of a 19-year-old in northeast Wilmington has become one of the city’s highest-profile use-of-force cases in years. A Delaware Department of Justice investigation into the incident is expected to be closely watched as residents look for answers and justice.

The family of Kadir Skinner, the 19-year-old who was fatally shot by Wilmington police last month, announced Tuesday they will seek $25 million from the city in a wrongful death lawsuit.  

The announcement was made during a press conference the family held with their attorneys on the same day that state and city officials released body camera footage from the night Skinner was shot. 

The footage shows a chaotic 28 seconds between the moment the shooting officer leaves his vehicle to chase Skinner, before firing his weapon and handcuffing the wounded teen on the pavement of a Wilmington street. Another three-and-a-half minutes pass after Skinner was shot before officers place him into a patrol car and take him to Wilmington Hospital, where he died. 

During the press conference, the family’s attorney Harry Daniels referenced that the video also shows a loose dog behind Skinner as the officer begins his pursuit.  

“If they continue to shoot and kill our Black men down in the street as they’re running from a dog. If they do not want to hold those who do it accountable, then we’re gonna try to hold them accountable in their pocketbooks,” Daniels said.

The wrongful death lawsuit has not yet been filed. But the attorney said the family sent the city a notice of a claim on Thursday — a required step before the lawsuit can be filed.

Wilmington officials have said officers chased Skinner after they observed him walking out of a home and pointing a gun at a large crowd of people. The family disputes the claim. The body camera footage does not show the moments prior to the foot chase. 

Chance Lynch, another attorney for the family, said during the press conference that the body camera footage sparks new questions about the city account.   

“Where was this crowd that he waved a gun [at]? Why didn’t they (the city) mention the pitbull? And when he was running away from the police officer, how was he a threat to that police officer?” Lynch asked.

When reached for comment Thursday, Caroline Klinger, a spokeswoman for Mayor John Carney, said questions about previous statements made by police should be directed to the Wilmington PD. 

“The details of the incident are precisely what is being evaluated through the investigation,” Klinger said. 

Carney did comment on the situation in a Facebook post made before the family’s press conference Thursday. In it, he asserted that body cameras have “limitations” and that the footage from the Skinner shooting “does not capture the totality of the incident.”

The news of the family’s impending lawsuit comes after the June 24 incident sparked weeks of outcry from community members and elected officials who, until Thursday, had called on authorities to release body camera footage. 

Community members have also demanded the name of the officer involved, as well as police reform at the local and state level.

Many of those demands were repeated Thursday evening during a rally and march that begin a the site of Skinner’s shooting and ended at the Wilmington Police station downtown.  

Four shots fired

Two hours before the Skinner family’s press conference, the Delaware Department of Justice, city officials and Wilmington police released three body camera videos from officers on the scene the night of the shooting.

The videos show two officers near 24th and Jessup streets exiting their police cruiser before pursuing Skinner on foot. 

One officer fired four gunshots while chasing Skinner. Wilmington officials have said Skinner sustained one gunshot wound to the buttocks.

The shooting officer then approaches Skinner, who is already on his knees with his hands up, pushes him to the ground, and puts a knee on his back to handcuff him. During that time, the officer tells another officer to “find the gun.”

Skinner is heard saying, “I don’t got nothing.” A crowd then begins to form in the area as Skinner repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe.”

A separate video from another responding officer shows her near the scene, stopping at a spot and reaching down. She then returns to the immediate scene as sound from her body camera turns on. The shooting officer tells her to “secure the gun.” She responds, “I have it.”

Police previously said they recovered a .45-caliber handgun with an extended magazine but did not say whether Skinner was holding it when he was shot.

The officer who fired the shot, who has yet to be identified, remains on administrative leave, according to police.

In a statement, state and city officials said the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing and noted that the officers involved will be identified once a detailed public report is issued at the end of the investigation. 

Read more from Spotlight Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) — The family of Kadir Skinner is calling for criminal charges against the police officer who shot the 19-year-old after the release of officer body camera footage that attorneys say contradicts the police account of the incident.

The shooting happened June 24 after 11 p.m. at 24th and Jessup streets.

Body camera video shows an officer drawing and firing his weapon while yelling commands. In the footage, officers can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun,” as they approach Skinner, who is on the ground.

Skinner repeatedly tells officers he is unarmed and says he cannot breathe.

“I don’t got nothing. I don’t got nothing,” Skinner says in the video.

Footage shows officers handcuffing Skinner and kneeling on him while he continues to say, “I don’t got nothing. I can’t breathe.”

Skinner was shot in the rear.

READ MORE | ‘We need answers’: Family disputes details after man killed in Wilmington police shooting

A second body camera angle shows a crowd forming as officers instruct people to back up.

Video from a third responding officer appears to show an officer picking something up from the grass and returning toward the crowd and the officers with Skinner.

In the footage, an officer can be heard saying, “Secure the gun,” and the officer wearing the body cam says, “I have it.”

Attorneys for Skinner’s family, along with family members and community supporters, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church in Wilmington following the release of the video to demand justice.

“Regardless if he had a gun or not, he was still shot in the back, running from police, not having been a threat,” attorney Harry Daniels said.

SEE ALSO | Family releases witness video after 19-year-old fatally shot by police in Wilmington

Attorney Chance Lynch said the footage showed “an unjustified killing.”

“What we saw and what we witnessed was an unjustified killing,” Lynch said.

Attorneys for the family contend the video disputes the police version of events. Wilmington police previously said Skinner came out of a home armed and waved a gun at a crowd before officers opened fire.

“The video that I saw, I didn’t see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir coming out of a residence. I did not see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir pointing a firearm at a crowd,” Lynch said.

Attorneys and the family maintain that Skinner was running from a loose dog.

The family also announced a $25 million claim against the city of Wilmington for wrongful death. They are seeking criminal charges against the officer who shot Skinner.

The Delaware Department of Justice is investigating.

Delmarva Power objects to applying legislation to interim rate

The debate among commissioners over the breadth of their oversight on utility rates comes as the company has pushed back on the group, limiting its interim rate increase to half of its total request, even while it faced criticism from commissioners that it is “cruel” and “tone deaf” for continuing to press for rate hikes.

Delmarva Power, an investor-owned utility, serves 344,000 residential and nonresidential customers in the state. Its parent company, Exelon Corporation, is the nation’s largest regulated electric and gas utility.

Its customers pay a supply and a delivery charge for gas and electricity. The supply of energy comes from PJM Interconnection, a regional grid serving Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and several other states. Delmarva Power profits through the distribution fee.

Delmarva Power Region President Marcus Beal said they need to file rate hike requests to recoup money it spends on improving and maintaining the infrastructure.

“Our equipment is extremely expensive, the items that we buy, the transformers, they’re very large, complex things to build,” Beal said. “Even something as simple as a treated pole of a certain size can be very pricey, so we spend a lot of money on the grid itself.”

Under Delaware law, interim rates can be approved seven months after a rate case is filed, while the full petition is being considered by the commission. Prior to the legislation, 100% of the rate request could be implemented. The bill caps interim rates at 50% and allows 75% of the ask to go into effect after 12 months. The bill also puts limits on Delmarva Power’s infrastructure spending.

Delmarva Power spokesperson Matt Ford said the commission overstepped its authority to cut the interim rate as much as they did and the company has argued in its PSC submissions that SB 326 did not apply to the rate increase request filed in December because it had yet to be signed into law. Meyer said he signed the bill Monday.

“Delmarva Power further reserves its objections to the applicability of the legislation, should it become effective, including its impermissible retroactive application,” the utility company said in comments filed Monday afternoon with the commission.

In addition, Delmarva Power has objected to halving $23.2 million in distribution system improvement charges as part of the interim rate commissioners approved. The fee allows utility companies to recover project costs and depreciation between full rate case proceedings.

“My suggestion is, if you don’t like it, appeal it,” Iorii said.

It’s unclear whether the utility plans to appeal the order. Ford said they were reviewing it and its implications.

Tweedie said he hopes they decide not to appeal.

“If they appeal this, what they are essentially saying is, ‘We want to extract more money from our customers than the commission intended to allow,’” he said.