John Marcus Fryer, a 29-year-old Black/African American man from Claymont, Delaware, was killed during the predawn hours of February 18, 2017, at the Coachman's Manor Apartments near New Castle. At approximately 4:00 a.m., Fryer and his girlfriend were returning to an apartment on Surry Court when an unidentified person emerged from the side of one of the buildings. As the stranger ran past the couple, the person fired a single gunshot that struck Fryer.
The shooter continued toward the opposite side of the building and disappeared from view.
New Castle County police officers responding to the reported shooting found Fryer lying on the sidewalk with an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers secured the apartment complex while investigators began examining the circumstances of the attack. A police K-9 team searched the surrounding area in an effort to locate the fleeing gunman, but the search did not produce an arrest. Three days later, authorities publicly identified Fryer as the person who had been killed.
Police did not announce a motive or disclose evidence that Fryer and the shooter had interacted before the gunfire. The available official accounts describe only one unidentified assailant, but they provide no name, physical description, clothing description, vehicle information or known direction of travel beyond the person fleeing to the other side of the apartment building. No individual has been publicly identified as a suspect, and authorities have not reported any arrests, criminal charges, trial proceedings or convictions connected to Fryer's death.
Fryer left behind two sons and other members of his family. He had worked as a stock person at the Goodwill Outlet in New Castle. As the years passed without an arrest, his killing became one of the unresolved homicides maintained by the New Castle County Division of Police Cold Case Unit. Police renewed their public appeal on the anniversary of the shooting in February 2026, stating that investigators were continuing their efforts to determine who fired the fatal shot and asking anyone with information to contact the Criminal Investigations Unit.
