UPDATE: Suspect Shot in Arm following Warrant Attempt in Greenwood; DSP Investigating
UPDATE: The Delaware State Police (DSP) is investigating an officer-involved shooting(Opens in a new window.) that occurred on Wednesday while serving a warrant.
At 1:30 p.m. on Mar. 11, members of the Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration (SOAR) Unit, Troop 4 Criminal Investigations Unit, and the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) responded to a camper on Wheatfield Road in Greenwood to execute a search warrant and apprehend 60-year-old Jeffrey Mitchem. Earlier in the day, DSP was notified by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Threat Operations Center of threatening posts made online by Mitchem. Mitchem also reportedly sent a photo of himself holding what officers believed was a black handgun, and a picture of a coffin to a SOAR detective. Mitchem is prohibited from possessing a deadly weapon due to prior felony convictions, and was also wanted by the Arlington County Police Department in Virginia for felony terroristic threatening.
When troopers arrived, Mitchem barricaded himself in his camper and refused to exit. He repeatedly refused commands from the DSP Crisis Management Team, refusing to surrender. Mitchem proceeded to threaten that he had a large amount of gunpowder and was holding a trigger to detonate it. Police say Mitchem was seen spreading an unknown powdery substance inside the camper, and he kept one hand hidden inside when he stepped outside the door.
A trooper fired a single shot, hitting Mitchem in the arm. Following the shot, Mitchem threw a handgun out of the camper, exited, and was taken into custody without further incident. Troopers provided first aid until emergency medical professionals arrived, and he was taken to an area hospital for serious injuries where he remains for treatment. He has been charged with possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited, 19 counts of threatening the life or severe injury of public officials, and resisting arrest. Following his release from the hospital, Mitchem will be turned over to the custody of the Delaware Department of Correction on a $43,000 secured bond.
In accordance with DSP protocol for officer-involved shootings, the Homicide Unit assumed the investigation. Detectives determined that the black handgun Mitchem threw from the camper was actually an airsoft pistol or replica of a Walther PPS M2 firearm. A subsequent search of the camper revealed that Mitchem had placed a six and a half-inch wooden-handled hunting-style knife on a shelf near the entrance where he was standing before being forced to surrender. The DSP Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit confirmed that the unknown powdery substance was not explosive material.
The involved trooper has been placed on administrative leave while a use-of-force investigation is conducted in collaboration with the Delaware Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust.
This is an active investigation, and detectives ask anyone with information about this case to contact Detective M. Csapo at (302) 741-2729. Information may also be provided by sending a private Facebook message to the Delaware State Police(Opens in a new window.) or contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers(Opens in a new window.) at 1-800-847-3333.
WMDT will continue to provide updates on this story as details are made available.
GREENWOOD, Del. – The Delaware State Police have responded to an officer-involved shooting of the 11000 block of Wheatfield Road in Greenwood.
Police say the shooting occurred following a warrant attempt with a barricaded suspect just before 3:00 p.m. on Mar. 11. No troopers were injured, and the suspect has been taken to an area hospital with serious injuries.
While the scene remains active, authorities say there is no threat to public safety at this time. Wheatfield Road had been partially reopened to the public as of 3:25 p.m.
This article was originally posted on Mar. 11 at 4:01 p.m.
