The use of deadly force by police officers from multiple agencies during a 90-minute chase across New Castle County on Dec. 2, 2022 was justified, according to a determination by the Delaware Department of Justice released to the public Thursday.
According to the Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust, a shooting involving 18 officers from the state, New Castle County, Elsmere, Newark and Newport police departments led to the death of 39-year-old Jonathan Wiseman and the injury of an uninvolved driver.
Three bullets fired at Wiseman by a state trooper also struck an occupied school bus, though no students were injured.
What happened?
Officers chased Wiseman on foot through Newport and onto Route 141, where Wiseman carjacked a vehicle and led police on a car chase across Route 141, I-95, Route 273 and Route 40. He was followed by a police helicopter overhead, which the Department of Justice said witnessed him crashing into construction barriers and driving “erratically, at a high rate of speed, weaving in and out of traffic and passing vehicles on the shoulder.”