Burgon Sealy Jr. has been identified as the suspect involved in the fatal shooting of a Delaware State Police trooper. The 26-year-old is wanted for the killing of Corporal Stephen J. Ballard, 32, who was fatally shot while investigating a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store in Bear on Wednesday.
Sealy fled from the scene and is believed to be barricaded inside a home in Middletwon, Delaware, state police said in a press release.
A second suspect was arrested at the scene of the crime.
What Happened?
State Police Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr. said Ballard saw a suspicious vehicle outside the Wawa, with two suspects inside. McQueen said Ballard “made contact with the occupants and shortly thereafter, a struggle ensued. It was at this time that one of the two suspects exited the vehicle and proceeded to fire several rounds, striking the trooper.”
One suspect was taken into custody by responding to troopers “without incident,” McQueen said. The second suspect fled on foot, he said.
A witness told The News Journal he was at a red light near the convenience store when the shooting occurred. Clarence Travers told the newspaper he heard gunfire and saw a police officer in a blue uniform fall to the ground.
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Travers continues that he then saw a man exit the vehicle and shoot the fallen officer several more times before running away.
Kevin Lerner, an employee at the barbershop next door to the Wawa, told WPVI-TV he saw the shooting.
“When he pushed the officer he got a little room to run. So he pushed him and ran, and when he ran he ran for like seven or eight feet,” Lerner told the news station. “And then he turned around and started shooting. Just instantly started shooting.”
Ballard was rushed to Christina Hospital. Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr., the State Police superintendent, told reporters at a 5 P.M. press conference that the trooper had passed away.
“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the death of a Delaware state trooper,” McQueen said.
Sealy Jr. fled the scene and barricaded himself inside a nearby home in the Brick Mill Farm Development in Middletown, according to a Delaware State Police press release.
The home is owned by Burgon Sealy Sr., The News Journal reports.
“This investigation is related to the incident in which a trooper was shot outside a Newark area convenience store. A male suspect has refused orders to surrender and continues to fire rounds at police officers,” state police said. “No further details are available at this time and updates regarding this incident will be sent hourly or until the situation is resolved.”
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Burgon Sealy Jr.
Burgon Sealy Jr.’s only prior criminal record before this incident appears to be a 2013 arrest in Volusia County, Florida, on felony charges of carrying a concealed weapon and misdemeanor possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana, according to online court records.
Sealy pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges and successfully served 12 months probation, which ended in July 2014, for the crime.
He was living in Daytona Beach, Florida, at the time, but the second half of his supervision was transferred to Delaware, allowing him to move back home.
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