Police Identify Suspect in Fatal Shooting of Delaware State Trooper
(MIDDLETOWN, Del.) - Police have identified the man who fatally shot a Delaware state trooper and was later killed by police as 26-year-old Burgon Sealy Jr.
State police superintendent Col. Nathaniel McQueen said at a news conference Thursday that Sealy shot the trooper multiple times after the trooper fell to the ground from Sealy’s initial gunshot. Cpl. Stephen Ballard died at a hospital.
McQueen says Sealy was shot by officers Thursday morning after he emerged from his house after a lengthy standoff and “engaged with police” while armed. Sealy died minutes later.
Sealy had been barricaded inside the house in Middletown since Wednesday as police tried to make contact and persuade him to surrender. Police say officers outside came under fire Wednesday evening and early Thursday. Police blew off the front door and several windows, but didn’t immediately enter.
The home where Sealy barricaded himself is registered to his father. Records show Sealy had been arrested in 2013 on gun and drug charges. A childhood friend, Scott Adkins, says Sealy was fond of guns as early as middle school.
Ballard was slain Wednesday in the parking lot of a Wawa in Bear while investigating a car with two suspicious people.
