Investigators revealed new details on the motive of Rahman Rose, the man who officials say was killed by a police officer after murdering a state trooper at a Delaware DMV.

The murder of Cpl/1 Matthew T. “Ty” Snook

On Dec. 23, 2025, at 11:30 a.m., Rahman Rose entered the Karen L. Johnson DMV in New Castle, Delaware, and took a seat in the driver services area. He then exited a short time later without contacting anyone or conducting any business, officials said.

Rose returned to the DMV shortly before 2 p.m. that day and obtained a queue ticket from the welcome desk where Cpl/1 Snook and a DMV employee were stationed, according to investigators. At that point, there was no interaction between Snook and Rose who once again sat in the driver services area, officials said.

About three minutes later, Rose approached Cpl/1 Snook from behind, took out a handgun and opened fire, shooting Cpl/1 Snook over the glass partition, according to investigators.

After being shot, Cpl/1 Snook shielded the DMV worker from harm and was once again struck by gunfire, officials said.

At the time of the shooting, Rose allowed and encouraged several customers to leave the DMV while he remained inside, according to investigators. Rose then appeared to wait for responding police officers. Officials said Rose only fired additional shots at the responding officers, supporting their belief that he was only targeting law enforcement in the shooting.

At 2:07 p.m., a New Castle County Police officer who responded to the scene shot Rose through a window from outside the building.

Both Snook and Rose were taken to the hospital where they were both later pronounced dead...

What we know about Rahman Rose

Prior to the shooting, Rose – who had lived in Connecticut but was most recently staying in the Wilmington area – had told those who knew him that he believed police were targeting him and that he was concerned law enforcement was coming after him, investigators said.

Rose had also recently posted anti-police content on social media and claimed he was the victim of gang stalking, believing he was constantly being watched and harassed by the government and law enforcement entities.

Investigators believe Rose acted alone and found no evidence that he had conspired with others in the attack. Investigators also said that Rose had limited contact with Delaware law enforcement prior to the shooting but none of those interactions were criminal in nature, resulted in an arrest or involved Cpl/1 Snook. Detectives determined the shooting was a “deliberate and targeted attack on law enforcement.”