Delaware trooper killed at Bear Wawa

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UPDATED: A man barricaded in his house for nearly 21 hours after the fatal shooting of a Delaware State Police trooper was killed by law enforcement Thursday morning.

More: Standoff ends in Middletown; suspect in trooper death has been killed

A Delaware State Police trooper was gunned down in the parking lot of a Wawa in Bear shortly after noon on Wednesday, and a suspect in the officer's killing remains barricaded in a home north of Middletown firing at officers surrounding it, said Nathaniel McQueen Jr., superintendent of the state police.

The fallen trooper was identified as Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, 32, an 8½-year veteran of the Delaware State Police who was assigned to patrol at Troop 2 in Glasgow.

"This is a sad day for our state and Delaware State Police family," McQueen said. "We ask that you keep the trooper's family and the members of the Delaware State Police family in your prayers."

Dozens of police have converged on a home in the 500 block of St. Michaels Drive in the Brick Mill Farm development, north of Middletown, where the armed suspect is barricaded alone and occasionally firing shots at officers, said Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, a state police spokesman.

Police are maintaining a perimeter around the home as they attempt to negotiate a "peaceful end" to the conflict, Fournier said. Shortly after 8 p.m., state police used an explosive breaching charge on the front door, but had yet to enter the house.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the man barricaded inside is 26-year-old Burgon Sealy Jr. 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.

A Middletown neighbor who lives on the block identified for The News Journal the home where the shots are being fired, and county records indicate the property is owned by Burgon Sealy Sr. Although state officials would not release the suspect's name, police did confirm that the suspect holed up in the home lives there with his family.

"The suspect has been firing shots at the police officers from the residence he lives in, and is currently holed up in the house," Fournier said.

McQueen said the deceased trooper was responding to a "suspicious" vehicle at the Wawa on the 1600 block of Pulaski Highway, with two people inside.

"Shortly thereafter, trouble ensued," McQueen said.

One of the vehicle's occupants exited the car and fired multiple times, striking the trooper, McQueen said. Some inside the store dove for cover while others ran outside to help the trooper, who later died at Christiana Hospital.

Late in the afternoon, the trooper's body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Police officers, firefighters and hospital personnel lined the initial route out of the hospital. The procession was led by a group of New Castle County police motorcycles, followed by the black forensic investigator vehicle that held the body. That vehicle was flanked by four state police motorcycles. I-95 and side roads were closed as the procession made its way to the Medical Examiner's Office.

Scores of police officers from across the region lined the street.

Kevin Lerner was having a bite when he witnessed the trooper approach a vehicle in the parking lot. He said the suspect pushed the trooper before running backward a short distance and opening fire.

"When he turned around, he spun around and had his gun already ready and he started shooting," Lerner said. "That officer didn't look like he was doing anything wrong, but just asking him for his (identification) or whatever. The guy was moving fast."

RELATED: Fear spreads through Middletown-area neighborhood

Police arrested one of the vehicle's occupants at the Wawa, and investigators tracked the other man to the home north of Middletown.

On the corner of Dove Run Boulevard and Brick Mill Road, four ambulances appear to be on standby with emergency personnel. County police in body armor and four New Castle County cruisers were prepared to escort paramedics into the scene should it be necessary. A helicopter hovered in the distance.

The flurry of activity spread fear among local residents, and state police advised those who live nearby to stay inside their homes.

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The police action blocked Middletown resident Robert Dalton from his home, which is a five-minute drive away. He sat in his car near Brick Mill Elementary School tracking news on his cellphone, frequently attempting to contact his wife.

"I've been calling her to tell her to lock the doors, but she hasn't picked up," he said.

McQueen did not take questions in a 5 p.m. press briefing. It is unclear whether the barricaded man is believed to be the gunman.

CRIME: More shootings spike stress in Wilmington

Bear resident Justin Little was walking into the Wawa when he heard about five gunshots.

“When I went in the store, everyone was screaming, trying to hide and everything,” Little said. “When I went outside, people were trying to help him [the trooper].”

Little said he didn’t see the shooter and the officer was chest-down on the parking lot pavement. He said the officer appeared to have been shot multiple times.

“When he was on the ground, I was looking at his face, and he did not look alive at all,” Little said.  “People were pushing on his chest, and he began gasping for air.”

Clarence Travers said he was sitting at the red light along Pulaski Highway next to the Wawa when he heard gunfire. He looked over to see a police officer in a blue uniform fall to the ground.

He said a man then got out of his vehicle, came around the car and proceeded to shoot the officer on the ground multiple times.

He said the man then ran, and Travers pulled away from the intersection.

"I wanted to get away from that," he said in the parking lot where police convened.

Monica Moore said she was driving by the Wawa when gunshots rang out. She looked over to see a state trooper on the ground face down, she said.

Immediately, people rushed to his aid and began performing CPR, she said.

Moore stopped to call 911, but dispatchers told her police were already en route.

"I saw him and just wanted to help," Moore said.

State police, New Castle County and unmarked police vehicles with lights and sirens sped into the Christiana Hospital parking lot at 1:15 pm. Security was heavy at the emergency room entrance, with numerous police, and hospital constables.

Tributes have been coming in from local politicians and law enforcement agencies. Shortly before 1 p.m., University of Delaware Police asked Facebook followers to keep a wounded Delaware State Police officer in their prayers.

For more details, check back with DelawareOnline.com

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

ABOUT THE TROOPER

Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard joined the Delaware State Police after graduating from the academy in April 2009.

Ballard was recognized in 2011 for his involvement with Troop 4's Explorer Post, which works with young men and women grades 9 and above who have an interest in law enforcement, according to state police.

He was also photographed at Law Enforcement Family and Friends Day in 2014 at Camp Barnes in Ocean View, according to the Cape Gazette.

OTHER OFFICERS KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY

Lt. Steven Floyd, a Delaware Department of Correction officer, was the most recent law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty. He was killed during the violent uprising at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna in February.

Since 2000, four other law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in Delaware, according to Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring America's fallen law enforcement heroes.

They are:

• Lt. Joseph Lawrence Szczerba, of the New Castle County Police, who died Sept. 16, 2011.

• Patrolman Chad Ernest Spicer, of the Georgetown Police Department, who died Sept. 1, 2009.

• Cpl. Christopher Michael Shea, of the Delaware State Police, who died July 18, 2004.

• Cpl. Frances Marie Collender, of the Delaware State Police, who died Feb. 6, 2001.

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