Brian D. Chirdon, a 34-year-old White man, was fatally wounded during a shooting inside a residence in the 15000 block of Winner Circle in Lincoln, Delaware, on the evening of July 10, 2019. Delaware State Police were sent to the home at approximately 8:26 p.m. for what was initially described as a death investigation. When troopers arrived, they found Chirdon suffering from a gunshot wound and in urgent need of medical attention.
Emergency personnel transported Chirdon to Bayhealth
Hospital in Milford. Because of the seriousness of his injury, he was later transferred north to Christiana Hospital. Despite the efforts made to save him, he died from the gunshot wound. Police publicly identified him later that month as investigators continued working to determine exactly what had happened inside the Winner Circle residence.
The case carried an especially painful dimension because the person eventually accused in connection with the shooting was Chirdon’s father, David B. Chirdon. In the weeks after the death, the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit gathered evidence and presented the investigation to prosecutors. On August 19, 2019, a Sussex County grand jury indicted David Chirdon in connection with his son’s death.
David Chirdon, who was 62 at the time, was charged with manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He surrendered to Delaware State Police at Troop 4 the day after the indictment and was formally processed on the charges. He was subsequently released after posting a $40,000 secured bond.
The manslaughter charge indicated that prosecutors were not alleging that the shooting was a premeditated murder, but that David Chirdon was criminally responsible for causing his son’s death through reckless conduct. Publicly available reports did not provide a detailed account of the moments leading to the gunfire, the nature of any dispute between the two men, or an explanation of how the weapon was discharged. Neighbors told local reporters that there had been previous disturbances associated with the property, but those accounts did not establish precisely what occurred on the night Brian was shot.
No other suspects were publicly identified, and the investigation centered on David Chirdon as the person accused of firing the fatal shot. Available news and police reports document his arrest, indictment, charges and release on bond, but they do not clearly establish the final disposition of the criminal case. No reliable publicly accessible report located for the case confirmed whether he was later convicted, acquitted, entered a plea agreement or had the charges dismissed.
