Collins Sarpee, a 24-year-old Black male, was shot on the afternoon of March 16, 2022, in the 600 block of North Jefferson Street in Wilmington, Delaware. Police responded around 2:00 p.m., found him wounded, and rushed him to the hospital in critical condition; he later died from his injuries. Days afterward, authorities publicly identified him as the victim and noted the investigation was ongoing.
Initial local reporting the next day described two separate shootings that unfolded within about ninety minutes that Wednesday, with the Jefferson Street attack placing Sarpee in grave condition before the police confirmed his death. The location and timing matched the city's advisory and later updates, which anchored the chronology of events from the first alert through the formal identification.
Subsequent coverage indicated the killing was later classified by authorities as a “valid justification defense,” a determination made in May 2022 and referenced publicly when reporters pressed for clarification on Wilmington's homicide statistics. In connection with that finding, police did not announce an arrest or identify a suspect to be charged in Sarpee's death.
