2 killed, 3 others injured in shooting at Chester linen company; suspect in custody

A gunman “took his anger out” on five of his former coworkers at an industrial laundry and linen company in the city of Chester on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding three others as workers at the business began their morning shifts, Delaware County officials said.

The shooting was reported at 8:30 a.m. at Delaware County Linen on West Fourth Street in the city’s West End, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said, describing the incident as a shooting by a disgruntled former employee.

“We’re here for an absolute tragedy,” Stollsteimer said. “This is a story that plays out too often in the United States of America.”

The identity of the gunman who opened fire on five of his former coworkers at Delaware County Linen on Wednesday morning has not been publicly released.

Law enforcement sources and employees of the business confirmed the gunman lived not far from the intersection of Kane and Cullhain streets in Chester, where police took him into custody.

The suspect and his family had moved to the city from their native Puerto Rico in recent months.

Chester Mayor Stefan Roots and members of City Council arrived at the scene shortly before 11 a.m. after canceling their twice-monthly meeting.

For Roots, the incident was a stark reminder of the prevalence of guns in America.

“We don't want to see this happen over and over and over again,” he said. “We have to get stronger with our gun legislation. We can't have guns in the hands of the wrong people.”

Employees at Delaware County Linen in Chester ranged in seniority, from more than a decade at the business to two weeks of employment.

Sandra Castro, 19, and her sister Esthe Castro, 25, are newer employees. The elder Castro got the job three months ago and her sister started two weeks ago.

The sisters speak Spanish and an indigenous dialect from Guatemala, which makes finding work difficult. They said working with one another in an environment with fellow Spanish speakers felt like a stroke of luck.

Pockets of laundromat employees huddled behind police tape comforting each other and waiting to tell police what they saw.

They described a working environment that lent itself to getting to know the coworkers in your area well — the business was divided into sections of work that sorted, washed, and folded linens. Older employees could become good friends with younger workers based on time spent in a section, they said, and most are Spanish speakers.

Still, some employees struggled to remember details about the shooter, whom they said had worked with them but didn't really know.

Wednesday's shootings come at a time when Chester has been experiencing a dramatic drop in gun violence.

Chester once had one of the highest per-capita homicide rates in the country. However, gun-violence incidents dropped dramatically after the city formed a partnership with the Delaware County’s Gun Violence Task Force.

Shooting incidents fell from 119 in 2020 to 53 in 2022; homicides declined from 32 to 19, according to the task force’s Matt Krouse.

A gunman “took his anger out” on five of his former coworkers at an industrial laundry and linen company in Chester, killing two and wounding three others, according to officials in Delaware County.

The shooting was reported at 8:30 a.m. at Delaware County Linen on West Fourth Street in Chester, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said, describing the incident as a “workplace shooting" by a disgruntled former employee.

The three surviving victims were taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where one was listed in critical condition Wednesday morning.

The business where the shooting broke out was an industrial laundromat, said Adelina, a decade-long employee who stood crying uncontrollably just blocks from her place of work as she waited to give her eyewitness account to police. She asked not to give her name fearing for her life.

“I'm telling you it was insanity,” she said in Spanish. “I'm telling you if I hadn't run… he was coming after everyone like crazy, I didn't know where to go but he went straight after two guys.”

Adelina said the business was divided into three work sections, from sorting to washing.

At least two people were killed, and three others injured, in the Wednesday morning shooting at Delaware County Linens, according to law enforcement sources.

The names of the deceased victims were not immediately available.

Chester Mayor Stefan Roots described the incident as a “workplace shooting,” but the exact motive behind the gunfire was not clear.

Delaware County Linen, the site of Wednesday’s reported shooting in Chester, is a linen-rental company that has been in business since 1988, according to the company’s website.

The company specializes in providing tablecloths, bed linens and other products to restaurants, country clubs, hotels and other business in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Northern Maryland.

Its past clients include Malvern Prep School, Muhlenberg College, Blue Bell Place, and Villanova University.

Chester Police officers are investigating a shooting at a linen company in the city in which multiple people were injured, according to law enforcement sources.

The shooting was reported at Delaware County Linen on West Fourth Street about 8:30 a.m., said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

More than two people were shot, but investigators were still working to determine the total number of victims and the severity of their injuries.