Delaware Officer's Force Justified in Deadly Shooting in Dewey Beach, AG Report Says

The Delaware attorney general’s office has determined that police were justified in using deadly force last year in the fatal shooting of an armed man in a popular coastal resort town.

Rodney K. Robinson was shot about 2:30 a.m. on March 19 after leading police on a foot chase from The Starboard, a Dewey Beach bar and restaurant where he had been spotted with a handgun.

Robinson, 21, of Milford, was struck by a single bullet fired by Dewey Beach Police Patrolman Dylan Ebke after a Taser fired by fellow officer Joseph Rhodes failed to incapacitate him, according to a report released Wednesday by the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust.

“We conclude that because Ofc. Ebke reasonably felt in fear for his life and the life of another officer when he used force, such use was justified,” the report stated. Investigators also determined that Ebke’s actions were neither reckless nor negligent.

The shooting occurred a little more than an hour after police were alerted that a man leaving The Starboard had been seen with a gun. Surveillance video shows Robinson lifting his sweatshirt to show a handgun tucked in his waistband to a group of other males who appeared to be with him.

Robinson ran from police after they initially encountered him but returned to The Starboard about an hour later, prompting a 911 call from an employee.

As officers closed in on him a second time, Robinson ran again, fleeing into a nearby alley. A chain-link fence blocked his escape, however. Investigators said Robinson then turned toward Rhodes, who deployed his Taser with no observable effect, according to the report. Rhodes then retreated down a breezeway to find cover.

“Robinson then turned to Ofc. Ebke with what Ebke described as ‘a thousand-yard stare’ and pulled up the right side of his sweatshirt and put his hand in his waistband where Ebke saw a bulge, which he believed to be a handgun,” investigators wrote.

Ebke fired a single shot from his .45-caliber service pistol before fleeing down the breezeway himself, later telling investigators that he expected to be shot in the back.

Robinson also fled the shooting scene but collapsed about 200 feet away. A 9mm handgun with his DNA on it was found near Robinson’s body.

A toxicology report indicated that Robinson, who had pending criminal charges involving fleeing from Delaware State Police in March 2021, had consumed alcohol and marijuana before the shooting.

Under a new law, reports on the use of force by police most now include the race of the officer and the race of the individual on whom force was used, and whether race was a relevant or motivating factor.

“Ofc. Ebke is a white male. Robinson was a black male. There is no evidence to suggest that race was a relevant or motivating factor in the use of force in this case,” investigators wrote.