UPDATE: Manhunt in SW Newark, DE Leaves Residents out in the Cold

By Elizabeth Scheinberg

UPDATE: It appears that a reverse 911 notification was sent at 8 pm last night to select neighborhoods within the Newark City Limits. However, unincorporated Newark did not receive the police advisory.

If you live in the SW area of Newark, where the City limits end and unincorporated Newark begins, you might be feeling a bit out of sorts this morning, especially after reading the morning headline:

SHOOTING SUSPECT HUNTED IN NEWARK AREA

At about 9 pm last night, delawareonline did what several police agencies assisting in the manhunt failed to do - it notified online residents of the Welsh Tract/Old Baltimore Pike area that there a suspected killer in their midst. He is considered Armed and Dangerous. There continues to be an edict this morning that local residents remain insides their homes.

The event began at 4:15 pm when officers in Cecil County attempted to stop a suspected vehicle. The driver fled into Delaware, exited his vehicle in the 896 area and escaped by running across I-95.

The timing is significant - local elementary schools were wrapping up bus rides to home pouring hundreds of children into the local neighborhoods where beautiful weather prompted parents to encourage their children to enjoy Mother Nature's gift of an Indian Summer.

At least one local elementary school held a PTA event from 7 -9 pm, an outside movie, that attracted more than 100 children and their families. The school is within a 1/2 mile of the search zone.

And while all this went down, there were no phone calls from police agencies to area residents warning them of a dangerous stranger in their midst.

This is an epic failure. It's tragic enough that known offenders live among us. Delaware's police agencies had an obligation to inform us that our safety was at risk and still is. Afterall, who is really reading the NJ online at 9 pm? And how many of us were still up at midnight to get the latest update?

I'm just grateful that today is a day off in the Christina School District. As it stands, according to delawareonline, the police don't really know or want to say (pick your favorite explanation) whether or not there is still a heightened risk in the area: