Friday night started like any other late-summer evening along North DuPont Highway. People were grabbing late-night meals and hanging out around the North Dover Center strip mall. By 9:45 p.m., that regular weekend routine ended abruptly when gunfire rang out across the pavement right outside CAVA.
Dover police officers rushed to 1037 North DuPont Highway after multiple 911 calls came in reporting shots fired. When they pulled into the parking lot, they found 18-year-old Foster Trader lying on the sidewalk. He was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Officers and paramedics worked on Trader right there on the sidewalk, trying to stop the bleeding and save his life. Despite their efforts, he could not be saved. Authorities pronounced the 18-year-old Dover resident dead at the scene at 10:04 p.m.
At 18, Trader was at the age where life usually opens up. Friends and family expected him to be planning for his future, making weekend plans, and figuring out his next steps in life. Instead, his loved ones spent the weekend dealing with the sudden, overwhelming shock of his death.
Word of the shooting spread quickly through Dover over the weekend. Friends, classmates, and neighbors found themselves struggling to process how someone so young was gone in an instant. Behind the police tape was a local young man whose absence creates a heavy silence for everyone who knew him.
Crime scene technicians spent hours collecting evidence under the bright parking lot lights. Investigators found multiple spent shell casings scattered across the ground near where Trader fell. Police are currently analyzing that evidence alongside video footage from nearby commercial businesses.
Detectives continue to search for answers and are urging anyone who was near the North Dover Center around 9:45 p.m. to speak up. A passing driver or customer leaving a neighboring store might hold the exact piece of information needed to find out who killed Foster Trader. Anyone with details can call the Dover Police Department at 302-736-7143.
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