Frederick Tolson, a 42-year-old Black / African American male, was killed on the night of December 14, 2023, in Dover, Delaware, during what police later described as the third in a series of ambush-style shootings. Around 8:45 p.m., Dover police were called to the unit block of Ann Avenue after gunfire struck two people in front of the same home. Tolson, described by police as a barber and family man, was one of the victims. A 59-year-old male relative was also shot. Both men were taken to Bayhealth Kent Campus, but Tolson died from his injuries.
Investigators said the shooting did not appear to follow an argument, dispute, or any known confrontation. Police later said the victims in the connected shootings were attacked from concealed positions and from significant distances. Tolson's death became the most devastating part of a broader pattern that began earlier in December, when other men in Dover were shot while going about ordinary moments in public places. On December 2, a 45-year-old man was shot in the upper body while walking in the parking lot of the Wawa at 1450 Forrest Avenue. On December 8, another man was shot in the upper body near Village Drive and Quail Hollow Drive. Police found no evidence that those victims knew the shooter or had any dispute with him before the gunfire.
As detectives worked the cases, they reviewed surveillance footage, used vehicle identification technology, interviewed witnesses and surviving victims, and examined the crime scenes. Evidence gathered after the Ann Avenue shooting helped police connect the incidents and point to one suspect. Within 24 hours of Tolson's killing, investigators identified Jaquan Fletcher of Dover as the person they believed was responsible for all three shootings and the injuries to all four victims.
Fletcher was already wanted by Delaware State Police on unrelated charges when authorities moved in. On December 15, 2023, during the execution of a search warrant at his home on Isabelle Isle in Dover, he was taken into custody without incident by Dover police's Special Operations Response Team. By December 20, prosecutors and investigators had finalized the charge list, and an arrest warrant was approved. On December 27, 2023, Dover police publicly announced Fletcher's arrest in connection with Tolson's murder and the two related shootings. He was initially held at Sussex Correctional Institution on more than $1.2 million cash bail.
Fletcher was charged with first-degree murder in Tolson's death, three counts of first-degree attempted murder for the surviving victims, and firearm-related offenses. Police said there was no known connection between Fletcher and any of the victims, making the attacks appear random and unprovoked. Dover Police Chief Thomas Johnson described the case as a series of senseless acts of violence and said investigators believed they had disrupted the actions of a violent individual who had chosen victims at random.
The case later moved to trial in Kent County Superior Court. On May 13, 2025, a jury convicted Jaquan Fletcher, then 22, of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree attempted murder, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. In a separate proceeding held at the same time, the judge also found him guilty of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition because a prior conviction barred him from having either. After the conviction, authorities said Fletcher faced a minimum mandatory sentence of life plus 52 years in prison, with a maximum possible sentence of up to four life sentences plus 116 years.
