Dwayne Britt, a 24-year-old Black man, was caught in a sudden eruption of gunfire on the morning of September 13, 2019, in Wilmington's West Center City neighborhood. At approximately 10:34 a.m., shots rang out near the intersection of Fifth and North Monroe streets, turning an ordinary Friday morning into the scene of a double homicide. Britt was struck multiple times alongside Kenneth Hamilton, a close friend who had known him for more than a decade.
Wilmington police officers,
firefighters and New Castle County paramedics rushed to the intersection after receiving reports of the shooting. They found both victims suffering from critical gunshot wounds. Emergency crews worked to stabilize the men before transporting them to a hospital, but neither survived. Hamilton was also pronounced dead after arriving for treatment.
The attack appeared to have unfolded quickly and in broad daylight. Reports from the neighborhood described numerous shots being fired, leaving investigators with a large and complicated crime scene to examine. Detectives searched the area for physical evidence, interviewed potential witnesses and attempted to determine whether the two friends had been deliberately targeted. Authorities did not publicly disclose a motive or explain what may have happened in the moments before the shooting.
Police publicly identified Britt and Hamilton several days later and continued investigating their deaths as a double homicide. Detective William Ball was assigned to the case, and investigators appealed to anyone who had seen the shooting, heard conversations about it or possessed other relevant information to come forward. Despite the daytime location and the apparent intensity of the gunfire, publicly available reports did not identify a shooter or describe a vehicle or other suspect connected to the attack.
No publicly reported arrest, criminal charge, trial or conviction has been located in connection with Britt's killing. Police did not announce the name of a suspect, and there is no verified public indication that anyone was taken into custody for the deaths of Britt and Hamilton. The case therefore appears to remain unresolved, with the identity of the person or people responsible still undisclosed.
The loss of the two friends came during a violent period in Wilmington and contributed to growing concern over repeated shootings in the city. In the weeks that followed, community members marched through Wilmington calling for peace and remembering Britt, Hamilton and other people recently lost to gun violence. For Britt's family and those who knew him, the unanswered questions remained: why the two men were attacked, who opened fire and whether the evidence gathered from the intersection will ever lead investigators to the person responsible.
