A family should never have to associate a college homecoming with the night somebody they loved stopped coming home.
On October 10, 2026, gunfire at Dover Commons, across from Delaware State University, left 22-year-old Nasir Cox dead and another young man wounded. Neither was a DSU student. According to local media citing Dover police, the shooting followed the university’s homecoming events, after crowds moved into surrounding shopping centers. The investigation remains ongoing. Delaware Public Media
A young man is dead. Before the arguments about jurisdiction, school affiliation and public relations begin, sit with that. It has been a common practice by some media outlets to associate violence with HBCUs when tragic events like this occur during or near major events spomsored by HBCU campuses.
Before news of the shooting became widely known, there were debates online and with social media defending the integrity of Delaware State, and dismissing the violence connection with the university. However, a Facebook poster following the Dover Police Department-Delaware, who is identified as Donna Ann’s Daughter Brown, posted that one of the shooting victims was her grandson. She stated that he had attended Delaware State’s homecoming festivities when gun fire erupted, and he was struck as he fled the gunfire.
Homecoming is supposed to be the weekend people return to a place that helped shape their lives. Old roommates reconnect. Parents visit. Alumni bring their children. Students get to enjoy the community they have worked to join. Nobody should need an escape route to enjoy it. And the anger surrounding this kind of violence reaches beyond Dover.
On October 3, 2023, five people were wounded in a shooting at Morgan State University during homecoming week. The university subsequently canceled or postponed homecoming activities. Days later, on October 7, two 19-year-old men were wounded at Bowie State during homecoming weekend. Bowie officials said neither victim was a Bowie State or Morgan State student. Morgan State’s timeline, Bowie State’s statement
Different campuses. Different circumstances. The same intolerable intrusion. Gunfire where people came to celebrate. HBCUs carry a particular promise. These institutions have opened doors to generations of Black students, including students whose talent was overlooked elsewhere. For some, college also offers distance from violence they already know too well.
Imagine doing everything people tell you to do. Finish school. Get accepted. Build a future. Then spend a night on campus wondering whether the next shot is coming through your window. That’s a betrayal of what these places should offer.
Whoever brings a gun into a crowd and fires it deserves unambiguous condemnation. There is nothing impressive about making strangers run for their lives. There is no honor in settling an argument with bullets. The wounded bystander, the terrified student and the grieving parent bear the cost of somebody else’s willingness to destroy a life.
But anger needs an honest target. Blaming African Americans collectively makes the peaceful crowd answer for the people who endangered it. The students, families and alumni who came to celebrate deserve protection and a voice, not an accusation that their race makes them incapable of gathering. Accountability must reach the perpetrators. It must also reach those responsible for planning major events such as this.
Dover police reported that more than 50 officers were working in the area, responding to disorder and managing crowds. That deserves scrutiny. What happened when campus events ended, where did people go, and how were those surrounding spaces covered? Those questions require a public accounting. The shooting alone does not establish which decisions failed. Delaware Public Media
Universities and local officials should explain what they learned and what they will change. People with reliable information should help investigators. Friends should take threats seriously before somebody acts on them. Nobody’s reputation is worth another family’s funeral.
Students have enough to carry, like tuition, exams, jobs, debt and the pressure to succeed. Fear of gunfire should never become another condition of belonging. HBCU homecoming is worth defending. So are the people who attend it. They deserve to dance, reconnect, celebrate. and get home alive.
I’m David B. Adams, Independent Investigative Journalist | Crime & Justice Writer | Founder and Editor
The People’s Champion Blog
