Richard R.B. Crosby, a 30-year-old Black man, was killed on Saturday, March 25, 2017, during a midday shooting in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. At approximately 12:30 p.m., gunfire erupted in front of Libby’s Restaurant, a popular establishment on Tatnall Street. Crosby was struck in the head, leaving him critically wounded on the sidewalk outside the restaurant as police officers and emergency medical personnel rushed to the scene.
Responding medics treated Crosby before transporting
him to Wilmington Hospital. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Authorities initially withheld his identity while relatives were notified, then publicly identified him as Richard Crosby of Wilmington on Monday, March 27. His death made him the thirteenth person killed by gun violence in Wilmington during the first three months of 2017, underscoring the severe level of violence the city was experiencing at the time.
The shooting occurred in broad daylight in a busy downtown area, but the available reporting did not describe what happened immediately before the gunfire, establish a motive, or indicate whether Crosby had been approached, followed, or involved in an argument. Police did not release a description of the shooter, identify a vehicle connected to the crime, or announce the recovery of a weapon. No named suspect was publicly linked to the killing in the initial reports.
Investigators appealed directly to the public for information, directing potential witnesses to Wilmington Police Detective Joseph Bucksner. No arrests had been made when the shooting was first reported, and available online reporting does not document a subsequent arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction connected to Crosby’s death. No suspect has been publicly identified in reliable coverage located for the case, leaving the circumstances surrounding the attack and the identity of the person responsible unresolved in the public record.
