Police: Employee Dispute Ends In Shooting At Delaware Park
By Cleve Bryan
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) -- Delaware State Police are investigating after they say two employees were involved in a dispute which resulted in a shooting at Delaware Park.
Delaware Park employee, Troy Puckett, was hard at work this morning at the Delaware Park stables when a manhunt for a suspected gunman started going on around him.
"All I saw was the helicopters and I was like what's going on, and that's when I heard."
Just before 9 a.m., Delaware State Police received a report of a shooting in the race track's area.
Cpl. Jeffrey Hale says, "While they were en route they were advised that a male victim had been shot and had been transported to the Christiana Hospital in Newark. They were also advised that a male suspect had fled the area in a vehicle."
Using their helicopter, state police located the suspect's vehicle at the nearby Prides Court Apartments. As troopers and New Castle County police swarmed the complex, the man surrendered.
"Right now we have the suspect in custody and he is here in Troop 2 being questioned."
Police say he was arrested and transported to Troop 2, Glasgow, where he was charged with Assault 1st Degree, Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Stolen Firearm. He was arraigned and committed to the Howard Young Correctional Institution for lack of $123,000 cash bail.
Police say the victim and suspect both work at Delaware Park. The alleged shooter is a jockey and the victim is a trainer, according to police.
They say the jockey hit the trainer in the abdomen with a single shot for what they would only describe in general terms as a 'personal dispute.'
Soon after the arrest, police recovered the gun in a stream by the stables.
Troy Puckett says he's never seen any problems like this among the people who work with horses at Delaware Park.
"People here usually get along pretty well."
Police say the victim was taken to the hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
