Standoff ends in Middletown; suspect in Delaware trooper death killed

Twenty-one hours after barricading himself inside his family's Middletown-area home, the 26-year-old man who had earlier killed a Delaware state trooper emerged Thursday morning carrying a weapon when police used an armored vehicle to rip siding off the structure.

Burgon Sealy Jr., who had rained gunfire on hundreds of officers during the standoff, was gunned down at 9:17 a.m. on his front lawn by the officers surrounding his home in the Brick Mill Farm development, said Delaware State Police Col. Nathaniel McQueen Jr.

A yellow sheet lay over Sealy's body on the manicured lawn, littered with shards of siding. Behind him, the white single-family home with green shutters sat in tatters – pink insulation clinging to wallboard and windows blasted out by explosive devices police used in hopes of convincing Sealy to surrender.

Hundreds of officers armed with assault rifles and bullet-proof vests remained at the scene Thursday, with police vehicles lining nearly every roadway leading to the home. Officers from the FBI, New Castle County and Wilmington police joined Delaware state troopers at the barricade. Helicopters took off and landed from a large green circular park in the middle of the development, picking up officers and dropping others off.

The case drew national attention Wednesday and Thursday after Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, an 8½-year veteran with Delaware State Police, was gunned down in a Bear-area Wawa parking lot 15 miles from the barricaded home.

McQueen tearfully explained how Sealy got out of an acquaintance's vehicle in the parking lot and began shooting Ballard during a "suspicious vehicle" check just after noon Wednesday along Pulaski Highway.

Ballard turned to run for cover, but Sealy continued to shoot him, McQueen said. When the trooper fell to the ground, Sealy repeatedly shot him at close range.

Ballard, who was on duty and in full uniform, later died from his injuries at Christiana Hospital, McQueen said.

"The acts of Stephen yesterday exemplified the dedication that he brought to the citizens of Delaware on a daily basis," McQueen said, his voice thick with emotion.

McQueen declined to comment on whether 32-year-old Ballard was targeted. He would not speak to Sealy's motive, citing the ongoing investigation.

McQueen said Sealy contacted family members after the shooting Wednesday and told them he had shot a trooper at the Wawa. His family then contacted police.

A second man, in the driver's seat of the vehicle when Sealy began shooting at the Wawa, was taken into custody at the convenience store, McQueen said. He has been released and is not considered a suspect in the investigation.

Sealy jumped into his own vehicle at the Wawa and streaked to the family home near Middletown. Sealy was "well-armed and heavily equipped," McQueen said, though he would not comment on the type of weapons the man had in the home.

The Brick Mill Farm development was evacuated Wednesday when Sealy sought refuge there. The neighborhood was slowly opened up beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday. Investigators remained at the home, where four armored vehicles sat on the lawn and on the street.

An armored front-end loader called "the Rook," or a Critical Incident Vehicle belonging to the Pennsylvania State Police, was used to end the standoff. It absorbed a half dozen rounds in the bullet-proof glass protecting officers operating the black, 6-ton unit that runs on tracks.

Delaware State Police were not taking chances with Sealy.

"This is one of those situations where you had someone who made the conscious decision to shoot an officer, to assassinate an officer," said Lt. Thomas Brackin, president of the Delaware State Troopers Association. "He had the mindset he was going to kill that officer."

The last state trooper killed in the line of duty was Cpl. Christopher Michael Shea, who was killed when a drunken driver hit him in 2004.

Below is the house where the suspect was killed:

In 2013, Sealy was charged northeast of Orlando, Florida, for possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of a concealed weapon, according to the Volusia County Corrections. He presented a Delaware driver's license when stopped.

Some who knew Sealy described him as mild-mannered, a stark contrast to the profile that emerged Wednesday, when he fled the shooting scene and barricaded himself in his Middletown home.

Baltimore resident Scott Adkins said he went to school with Sealy, and lived down the street. Growing up, he said Sealy was an “average Middletown, Delaware kid,” who would ride dirt bikes and play paintball.

Though the two were not close, Adkins did recall that his former schoolmate had a strong interest in guns, and would often speak about them on the bus to school.

"Unfortunately, it is the nature of the way he was bought up. He has always been around guns and always had guns," he said.

Police would not comment on Sealy's prior criminal history, but said it remains under investigation as part of the fatal shooting. McQueen would not elaborate on why Sealy was at the Wawa other than to say Ballard deemed the vehicle suspicious and made contact with the two men inside the parked car.

The "suspicious vehicle" stop wasn't uncommon for Ballard, described by fellow troopers as an exemplary police officer dedicated to making the community better. Capt. J. Sapp, who oversaw Ballard in his role as a patrolman out of Troop 2 in Glasgow, noted that two weeks ago Ballard was lauded for his work with DUI enforcement, and was slated to work on special policing projects.

His tactful approach toward policing made him a good trooper – and an even better person to work alongside, Sapp said.

"You know, you hear about that person with the proverbial smile that just lights up the room," Sapp said. "That was Steve."

Ballard was also a family man who dearly loved his wife and 5-year-old stepdaughter, Abigail, according to Trooper Chris Martin, Ballard's shiftmate for the past one and a half years.

"His family was first and foremost," Martin said. "And he took care of them. Now, they're ours to take care of."

MORE: Delaware trooper killed at Bear Wawa

MORE: Fear spreads through Middletown-area neighborhood

That's a responsibility state and fellow troopers don't take lightly. On Thursday, state police established a memorial fund at the Delaware State Police Federal Credit Union in the name of Cpl. Ballard. All proceeds will be given to his family. Checks can be made out to the DSTA-Stephen Ballard Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 168, Cheswold, DE 19936.

"We owe Cpl. Ballard and all these officers who serve on our behalf an enormous debt of gratitude," Gov. John Carney said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. "Right now, as we're gathered here, law enforcement officers are working across this state, putting themselves at risk to protect the rest of us as they do every single day. We should always be mindful and appreciative of their presence."

Their presence was felt by the neighbors and residents of Brick Mill Farm, who early Wednesday afternoon received pounding knocks and saw flashing police lights as signs to evacuate their community. Many were forced to spend Wednesday night in local hotels or with friends.

After hearing gunfire all night, those returning home shortly after 11 a.m. were eager to free their pets and check the conditions of their own homes.

"It was absolutely terrifying," said Linda Pavina, who lives on Ingram Court in the Brick Mill Farm community.

She was home Wednesday when police officers arrived on her doorstep and told her to leave immediately.

Pavina left her dog inside the house, along with her medication, in a rush to get to her sister's home in Middletown, where she stayed the night.

"I don't think anyone expects this anywhere, no matter what kind of neighborhood you live in," she said.

Katie Satta and her friends had a different experience, spending the night trapped inside their home during the barricade.

"I thought it was construction," Satta said at hearing rounds of shots Wednesday afternoon. "It's a really quiet neighborhood. Nothing ever happens."

Satta said she, her friends and family stood by windows to see what was going on. From her home's top floor windows, she could see the barricaded house.

Family and friends spent the night in her house after Satta's father decided no one was going to leave. Satta's mother ended up stuck in a nearby parking lot, unable to enter the neighborhood.

"We were scared," she said. "I was just concerned about my mom because I know she had been at work all day."

Her mother wasn't alone in the parking lot of the Dove Run Shopping Center, though, as dozens of homeowners waited for news. Brick Mill Road remained closed until daybreak when Brick Mill Elementary resumed classes and buses needed to get through.

Police regularly circled through the parking lot, picking up boxes of coffee provided to them by Rishen Patel, owner of Manhattan Bagel. Patel, who was in the Dove Run parking lot early Thursday, said he was happy to help the officers.

"Police take care of us a lot so when something like this happens, I think we should all take care of them, too," he said, adding that he also provided the officers with bagels.

It's these small gestures that troopers and other law enforcement will cling to in the coming days and weeks, said Brackin, as news of Ballard's death continues to ripple through Delaware and America. In Legislative Hall on Thursday, lawmakers proposed a bill that would include law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel as protected classes under hate crimes.

For the second day in a row, the state House and Senate paused in a moment of silence for the slain officer.

"This is such a horrendous day and a horrendous time in our state," Senate Majority Leader Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, said from the Senate floor.

Brackin is hopeful that the community will rally behind the officers protecting them on a daily basis – despite the negative rhetoric surrounding policing.

Community support is needed now more than ever, he said.

"This really brings it home," Brackin said. "This is what we dread, but it's also the job we deal with day in and day out. ... And it's done by human beings."

Reporters Alonzo Small and Karl Baker contributed to this report.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3. Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.