Costumed students still filled the streets of one college town after another when the gunfire started.
Law enforcement officials said Halloween-weekend shootings struck at least 15 cities nationwide as of Nov. 3, 2026, leaving at least 124 people shot, 17 of them fatally — a count that includes the gunfire near the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.
At least six separate shootings near major university campuses — in Delaware, Michigan, Colorado, Alabama, Illinois and Indiana — killed three people and wounded at least 32 others over a weekend of Halloween parties, homecoming events and football rivalry games.
A Collapsed Lung on Main Street
Newark police said the Main Street shooting happened at about 11:13 p.m. Oct. 31, wounding six people. A wounded University of Delaware student, 20 years old, went to a hospital in serious condition with a bullet wound to the back and a collapsed lung, police said.
A 16-year-old from Wilmington who was struck by gunfire now faces a charge of possessing a gun. The University of Delaware canceled classes Monday, Nov. 2, and offered counseling.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke after shootings at Halloween events in two cities in his state over the weekend. “This is not normal,” he said. He added, “We must never accept gun violence as part of life in Delaware.”
Two Senseless Acts Outside Legion Field
Multiple shootings followed the 85th Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Ala., on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 31, killing one person and wounding eight, one of them critically. The game matched Alabama A&M against Alabama State, two historically Black universities. A tailgate outside Legion Field descended into chaos shortly before 8 p.m., according to witnesses.
The man killed outside the stadium was Dre’ Shawn Thomas, Birmingham police said. One of the injured remained in critical condition and seven were stable, with ages ranging from 19 to 30.
Birmingham police charged a 17-year-old with murder on Monday, Nov. 2. The teenager taken into custody faces charges of murder and possession of a machine gun conversion device, and police said officers apprehended him in an alley shortly after the shots as he tried to flee. The suspect is to be held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail. Police have not identified him. The charges came from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office, according to Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett, who spoke at a news conference late Monday, Nov. 2, and said the night brought “two senseless acts of violence.”
Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, in a statement posted on social media, said: “There is no argument, no beef, no misunderstanding that can justify this level of senseless violence during a night of celebration.”
An Eighth Victim Found Later
Giana Dettloff, 19, of Carol Stream, died at the scene at about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 1 in a shooting near Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington-Normal, Ill. She was a freshman and a cheerleader at North Central College in Naperville, visiting a friend, and was not an Illinois Wesleyan student. McLean County Coroner Dr. Kathleen Yoder said she died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and pelvic region.
Bloomington, Ill., police Chief Jamal Simington said investigators initially counted seven survivors and later discovered an eighth, bringing the total to nine people shot. The survivors ranged in age from 16 to 22 and had no prior connection to each other, Simington added. Two Illinois Wesleyan students and an Illinois State University student were among the injured.
Police in Bloomington detailed the surviving victims’ wounds: a 19-year-old man shot in the arm; a 22-year-old man shot in the arm and abdomen; an 18-year-old woman shot in the leg; a 16-year-old girl shot in the arm; a 19-year-old woman wounded in the ankle; an 18-year-old woman shot in the leg; and a 19-year-old woman wounded in the ankle.
“This party was noticeably peaceful, jovial, and there were no disturbances witnessed or reported prior to the shooting,” Simington said. No one had been arrested as of Nov. 4.
Simington, in a statement on Facebook, wrote: “We continue to wish all those injured a full recovery and hope they have the support and care they need during this difficult time. We remain committed to conducting a thorough investigation, identifying those responsible, and ensuring accountability.”
The Party Police Had Already Ended
Hundreds of students turned out for a house party near the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. A gunman there killed a 19-year-old student at around 11:30 p.m. and wounded a second student, according to police. Officers had already shut the party down and sent the crowd home. Two men then tried to force their way inside about 90 minutes later, police believe. Both suspects have been identified by investigators, and the Boulder Police Department released images of a person of interest wanted in connection with the shooting.
Gunfire on Kirkwood Avenue near the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Ind., injured four men and three women, at least seven people in all, at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. An argument in a large crowd of Halloween revelers set it off, and officers working the popular bar strip then heard “multiple gunshots,” Deputy Chief of Police Ryan Pedigo told WTHR. The victims ranged in age from 17 to 27, and none were students or from Bloomington.
An 18-year-old is in custody, though police have not said whether he is the gunman. Officers recovered shell casings of multiple calibers at the scene, along with an AR-15-style handgun. One of the victims was carrying an AK-47-style pistol, police said.
A gunman wearing a Michael Myers mask wounded one person on Halloween night in a shooting near Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and a doorbell camera captured the scene near campus. A separate East Lansing shooting at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, wounded a second person. Whether the two shootings are related is not clear.