Newark-area roads are clogged with heavy traffic following a Friday morning police chase and shooting that started in Newport and ended near I-95 and Route 896, police said.
It’s not clear when the incident began or what exactly occurred. However, New Castle County Vocational Technical School District issued a press release Friday morning that a bus was shot in Newport, near Route 141.
No students or the driver were injured, but the bus was hit by three bullets. One of the bullets entered the bus and hit the arm rest next to the driver.
The district said the driver was going the normal route to school through Newport when she encountered “criminal activity.” Video from the area shows police with guns drawn chasing a person next to the bus. Several gunshots can be heard soon after, and the bus moved slightly.
Neither the students nor bus were targeted, the district said, and the driver pulled over a few blocks over and called her supervisor.
Delcastle Technical High School counselors are assisting students who were on the bus. It’s not known whether the bullets came from police or the suspect.
Based on very limited information provided by Delaware State Police, it appears that after the Newport shooting, the suspect led police on a chase onto I-95 south, toward Route 896. It remains unknown what happened there, but emergency services radio communications indicate paramedics were called to the southbound side of the interstate at South College Avenue (Route 896) near Newark shortly after 8 a.m.
The road closure there appeared to be caused by on-scene police investigators and medical personnel.
Delaware State Police issued a news release a little after 9 a.m. that said both the northbound and southbound lanes around Route 896 would be “shut down for an extended period.”
“The incident is contained at this time, there is no threat to public safety, and police are advising the public to please avoid the area,” the release said.
Around 11:15 a.m., state police tweeted that the incident was “an officer-involved shooting” but provided no additional details.
Multiple agencies, including New Castle County Police and Newport Police, gathered at Delaware State Police Troop 2 near Newark for a press conference late Friday morning.
Around 11:30 a.m., a helicopter hovered near Route 896, and the exit there was backed up. Traffic from Route 896 was getting pushed further back onto South College Avenue.
Cars were using the emergency lane to bypass the standstill traffic heading away from the University of Delaware, toward Old Baltimore Pike.
A number of other roads around Newark were shut down as a result of the chase and shooting Friday morning, with traffic backing up to the Maryland state line.
Pleasant Valley Road was completely barricaded, with road signs noting the closure a few meters after Welsh Tract Road. Cars were being turned around or detoured on Welsh Tract Road.
A tractor and several men with highlighter-green vests could be seen about 200 feet behind the barricade.
This is a developing story. Return to delawareonline.com for updates.
Reporter Krys’tal Griffin contributed to this report.
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