Documents: Shooting deaths in Dover were related

Police: Second case was retaliation, suspect said

The shooting death of a 25-year-old in Dover Sunday morning resulted in the retaliatory shooting death of a 15-yearold later that same day, court documents reveal.

Despite the arrest of a suspect in the first shooting, the suspect arrested in the second shooting told police it was in retaliation for the first, according to his warrant and Dover Police Department spokesperson Ryan Schmid.

The first shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m. in the area of Irish Mike’s pub, at 107 Loockerman St., where Syncere Friends was shot in the chest multiple times and once in his right leg, court documents said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

An unnamed 30-year-old Magnolia woman was shot as well but survived. She was struck once in the upper right thigh, fracturing her femur, court documents said.

Surveillance video showed one person firing the shots: a male in a white Tshirt, faded jeans and white sneakers, carrying a black hoodie, police said. After the shooting, the suspect ran to the city parking lot on North Street and got into a silver sedan.

Review of surveillance video from a few hours prior showed the car’s arriving in the parking lot, with four people getting out and walking to Irish Mike’s. One of them wore faded jeans, white sneakers and a black hoodie with a white T-shirt underneath, court documents said. He was identified as 23-year-old Sadique Ingram, police said.

Ingram was seen exiting an apartment building the next morning and getting into a vehicle, which police pulled over. He was arrested without incident and charged with first-degree murder and other offenses.

The day passed and, around 8:30 p.m., police responded to another shooting, about a block away from the first. The victim, a 15-year-old boy who has not yet been named by police, was found lying on the ground across the street from the Dover Fire Department on South Governors Avenue, suffering numerous gunshot wounds.

Around 33 shell casings were found at the scene, court documents said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Shortly after the shooting, police were notified 19-year-old Breshawn Best was in the emergency room at Bayhealth Kent Campus in Dover, being treated for a gunshot wound to the face, according to police. The severity of the injury was not described, but court documents said Best “walked in” to the hospital.

Best first told police he had been at a gathering for a “recent homicide victim” when he was shot, but a review of security footage showed there was no such gathering, court documents said.

There was video, however, of the shooting in front of the fire department. It showed about eight people in masks and dark clothing hiding in a concealed area and ambushing the victim, with multiple people shooting at him, court documents said.

After his release from the hospital, Best was interviewed by Dover police and admitted to “conspiring with unknown individuals” and firing two rounds at the victim, police said.

He told police the shooting was retaliatory related to an earlier homicide, according to court documents, and Dover Police spokesperson Ryan Schmid confirmed Best’s case was related to the Friends homicide.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.