John Thomas “JT” Williams, a 31-year-old Black male, was fatally shot in Dover, Delaware, late on Sunday, October 23, 2016. Although some records list the case under October 24, police and obituary notices state that Williams died the previous night. He was born at Dover Air Force Base and was living in Magnolia at the time of the shooting.
At approximately 10:25 p.m., Dover police officers were sent to an alley in the 500 block of River Road after a caller reported hearing several
gunshots. When officers arrived, they did not find Williams at the scene. Within minutes, Kent General Hospital contacted the police to report that two unidentified people had brought Williams to the hospital's main entrance and left him there. He had suffered two gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead after being admitted. Publicly available reports do not explain who transported him, how they encountered him, whether they witnessed the shooting, or why they did not remain at the hospital to speak with investigators. Authorities described them only as unknown persons and did not publicly identify them as suspects.
The location of the reported gunfire and the timing of Williams's arrival at the hospital led police to investigate the River Road alley as the shooting scene. The initial announcement did not describe a motive, an argument, a robbery, the type of firearm used, the number of shots fired, or any physical evidence recovered from the alley. Police also did not release a description of the shooter or disclose whether detectives believed Williams had been deliberately targeted.
Williams's death left behind his parents, his companion, and his children. Funeral services were held in Dover in early November 2016, followed by burial at Rochester Memorial Gardens in Ingleside, Maryland. Obituary notices described his death as sudden but provided no additional details about the circumstances of the shooting.
The Dover Police Department announced that the homicide investigation was ongoing and sought information from witnesses and members of the public. No reliable publicly available source located for this synopsis reports that a suspect was named, arrested, or charged in Williams's killing. There is likewise no publicly documented trial, guilty plea, conviction, or sentencing connected to the case. Based on the available official and news reporting, the identity of the person who shot Williams remains publicly unresolved.
