Two Delaware teenagers seen on surveillance video wearing tactical-style vests and carrying what appeared to be rifles while approaching homes late Friday were carrying out a prank, police said Monday.
New Castle County police identified the 16- and 17-year-old boys Sunday after receiving information that led investigators to the pair following the incidents in the Mallard Pointe neighborhood.
Sgt. Andrea Botterbusch, a spokesperson for the New Castle County Police Department, confirmed to News Outlet that officers arrested both juveniles Sunday evening.
During the investigation, police served a search warrant at one of the teenagers’ homes and recovered a gel bead gun, a tactical vest and a hockey-style mask.
A person wearing a black vest and mask was photographed approaching the front door of a home in New Castle’s Mallard Pointe neighborhood. (New Castle County Police)
The two juveniles face two misdemeanor counts of harassment, one misdemeanor count of criminal mischief and two violations for criminal trespassing.
Police said the teenagers had been knocking on residents’ doors late at night as part of a prank that frightened neighbors. Investigators found no evidence that the boys made threats of violence.
Information about their arraignment was not available Monday.
The investigation began shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, when residents of the Mallard Pointe neighborhood in New Castle reported seeing masked people approaching homes.
Images released by police show one person outside a home’s front door wearing a black hockey-style mask and tactical-style vest while holding what appeared to be a rifle.
Police said a masked person wearing a tactical-style vest and carrying what appeared to be a rifle was recorded approaching a home in New Castle, Delaware, on Oct. 9, 2026. (New Castle County Police)
Another photograph shows a separate masked person in a black vest walking toward a residence.
Officers responded to the 1200 block of Canvasback Drive at approximately 10:50 p.m. after receiving a report of a suspicious person.
Residents told investigators that someone wearing a mask and carrying what looked like a rifle had knocked on several doors before fleeing.
Police said they also observed four people traveling east on Mallard Road—two on bicycles and two walking.
Police said the two teenagers approached homes in a New Castle, Delaware, neighborhood wearing masks and tactical-style vests and carrying what appeared to be rifles as part of a late-night prank. (iStock)
Officers, assisted by a K-9 unit, searched the neighborhood and nearby properties but did not find the individuals.
Investigators initially believed the apparent weapons could have been airsoft-style guns. Police have not confirmed whether the gel bead gun recovered during the search was the same weapon shown in the surveillance footage.
The Delaware incident occurred nearly two months after a man wearing a “Chucky”-style mask was recorded terrorizing pedestrians roughly 35 miles away in Philadelphia.
Zymire Hughes, 22, was arrested in Las Vegas later that month by members of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Philadelphia office.
