Three Dead in DE Courthouse Shooting

State Police say three people have died in a courthouse shooting in Delaware.

Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack confirmed three people died in the shooting Monday morning at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington. He said the suspected gunmen and two women are dead. Shavack said police had not confirmed that one of the women was the shooter's estranged wife, though earlier in the day the city's mayor said that was the case.

Two police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Shavack said officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter in the courthouse's lobby before he passed metal detectors. Shavack did not say whether the shooter killed the two women or whether they were killed in the gunfire. Shavack also did not say how the shooter died.

From the News Journal:

Ralph Hilton got a call this morning from his sister, Victoria Warren. His sister was in the courthouse for jury duty.

“They were shooting, they were shooting,” is what Hilton heard his sister say.

Hilton said his sister was calling from a room she hiding in. Because people are not allowed to take their cellphones in, she was calling him from a land line. But when the phone went dead he drove from his office and was on King street awaiting word from her.

“She sounded upset,” he said.

Back in August 2012, Wilmington was name America's most dangerous city by Parenting.com. According to the survey, Wilmington has the highest rate of violent crimes per 100,000 people and the most sex offenders per capita.

Watch video of police talking about the shooting, via Newsworks.org: