Lawsuit Filed Against New Castle County After Police Use Deadly Force Killing 22-Year-Old, Critically Injuring Friend

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WILMINGTON, DE — Marrone Law Firm, LLC, representing a surviving victim and the family of a deceased victim, has filed a federal civil action against New Castle County seeking justice for the use of deadly force that killed 22-year-old Andrew Edelmann and severely wounded his friend, Aida Pabon.

On March 6, 2023, a New Castle County police officer opened fire on two people seated in a Hyundai SUV at a 7-Eleven in Wilmington. The officer, whose name has not been released by New Castle County, killed Mr. Edelmann and critically injured Ms. Pabon. Yesterday, with the assistance of Marrone Law Firm, LLC and local counsel Aman Sharma, Esq., Ms. Pabon and Mr. Edelmann’s survivors filed a federal civil action seeking redress and damages for violations of Mr. Edelmann’s and Ms. Pabon’s rights under the United States Constitution and the Constitution and laws of the state of Delaware.

“This shooting was an unjustified and unprovoked use of deadly force. It was recorded by multiple surveillance cameras, which show that the victims posed no threat to anyone at the time of the shooting,” said Joseph Marrone, Esq., founder of Marrone Law Firm, LLC. “The officer had his gun drawn from the moment he got out of his unmarked pickup truck and proceeded to shoot at the passenger compartment of the Hyundai SUV. After Edelmann was shot the first time, the SUV began to move forward to the left. At that time, the officer continued to shoot at the moving vehicle, firing several more rounds into the SUV’s passenger compartment from close range and killing Edelmann and wounding Pabon.”

The shooting is now being investigated by the County Prosecutor’s Office, the Department of Internal Affairs, and the State Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division. Unlike those investigations, this lawsuit is undertaken by and on the victims’ behalf.

“There is much information that the New Castle County Department of Public Safety has yet to share,” said Mr. Marrone. “Through the mechanism of civil litigation, the victims of this tragedy will learn what happened, and there will be accountability.”

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