Wawa Cop-Killer is Shot Dead by Police After Barricading Himself in his Home for Nearly 21 Hours

Burgon Sealy Jr.

The man suspected of shooting dead Delaware state trooper Stephen J. Ballard, 32, outside of a Wawa on Wednesday has been killed by police.

The suspect, identified by Delaware Online as 26-year-old Burgon Sealy Jr., was shot Thursday morning outside of his family’s home in Middletown where he had been holed up for nearly 21 hours.

According to a press release, police say Sealy emerged from the home around 9:17am and began shooting at officers. Officers returned fire and struck Sealy – who was pronounced dead at 9:29am.

{snip}

Sealy’s criminal history includes an arrest in 2013 in Orlando, Florida for possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of a concealed weapon.

Ballard was shot several times after he approached a vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store near Bear just after noon on Wednesday.

State police superintendent Col. Nathaniel McQueen said the vehicle had two suspicious people inside.

One man got out of the car and shot Ballard several times before running away, McQueen said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. The other man was arrested at the scene.

‘This is a sad day for our state and for the Delaware State Police family,’ McQueen said as Gov. John Carney stood at his side.

Carney ordered both U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of Ballard, whose body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

Police tracked Sealy to his home in a subdivision of two-story houses near Middletown, about 15 miles south of where Ballard was shot. The gunman, alone in the house, refused to leave and fired several shots at officers surrounding the home, state police spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said. No other officers were injured.

Hostage negotiators were on the scene and established contact with the man in an effort to get him to surrender peacefully, Fournier said. But there was no quick resolution as the standoff stretched into the evening.

Around 6:45pm Wednesday, several loud pops echoed through the neighborhood, as police repeatedly ordered the suspect to come out of the house with his hands up.

Shortly after 8pm, police used an explosive device to blow the door of the house off its hinges, but officers did not immediately enter the home, Fournier said.

Officers came under fire from the suspect again around 4am. Police officers breached numerous windows but again did not enter the residence.

A reporter for WPVI tweeted just before 10am on Thursday that authorities told her the situation had ‘resolved’ and the barricade was over.

It was later revealed that Sealy had been fatally shot.

{snip}