Andrew Eugene “Drew” Pennewell was killed on the evening of November 19, 2017, when gunfire broke out in a residential section of Wilmington, Delaware. Pennewell, a 25-year-old Black man, had been born in Wilmington on March 3, 1992. His life ended only a few blocks west of the city's downtown area, leaving his family and friends to mourn a young man remembered by loved ones as caring, loving and deeply missed.
At approximately 7:23 p.m., Wilmington police officers were dispatched to
the 1200 block of West Third Street after receiving reports that shots had been fired. When officers reached the area, they found Pennewell suffering from gunshot wounds. A second man, identified in initial reporting only as a 24-year-old, had also been struck by the gunfire. Pennewell's wounds proved fatal, while the other victim was hospitalized in critical condition. The shooting was therefore investigated both as a homicide and as the serious wounding of a second person.
The available public accounts do not explain what brought Pennewell and the other victim to that location, whether they were together when the shooting began or whether either man was specifically targeted. Authorities also did not publicly identify the surviving victim. No detailed description of the gunman or gunmen was released, and reports did not disclose whether witnesses saw the shooting, whether a vehicle was involved or how many shots were fired. Those unanswered questions left investigators with a difficult case in which the violence was clear but the circumstances surrounding it remained largely hidden from the public.
Detectives with the Wilmington Police Department opened a homicide investigation, but no suspect was publicly named in the immediate aftermath. There is no reliable public record showing that anyone has been arrested, charged, tried or convicted for killing Pennewell. No public announcement has established a motive, identified the firearm used or connected the shooting to another criminal case. The absence of an arrest meant that Pennewell's family was left without the accountability that a prosecution and conviction might have provided.
As the years passed, the investigation became part of the work handled by the Wilmington Police Department's Cold Case Unit. That unit generally reviews homicides that have remained unsolved for more than a year after the original investigative leads have been exhausted. The transfer did not mean the case had been abandoned. Instead, it allowed investigators specializing in older cases to reconsider the evidence, pursue newly developed information and seek help from people who may have been reluctant to speak when the shooting first occurred.
In May 2025, more than seven years after Pennewell's death, Wilmington police again appealed publicly for information about his murder. The renewed request confirmed that the case remained under investigation and that authorities still needed assistance identifying the person or people responsible. Police did not announce a new suspect, arrest or major evidentiary breakthrough during that appeal. Their decision to bring renewed attention to the case suggested that investigators believed someone in the community might still possess information capable of moving it forward.
Pennewell's death remains a story of a sudden eruption of violence followed by years of uncertainty. A Sunday evening ended with one young man dead, another critically wounded and a neighborhood transformed into a homicide scene. Although investigators have continued to seek answers, no publicly identified suspect has faced charges, trial or conviction. The central questions—who fired the shots, why Pennewell was killed and what the surviving victim or other witnesses may have known—remain unresolved, leaving his loved ones to wait for the truth and for justice.
