A man who killed a Delaware state trooper outside a convenience store Wednesday was shot dead in a standoff with police that went on for more than 12 hours outside the suspect’s home, police said.
Burgon Sealy Jr. sealed himself inside his home in Middletown after he allegedly killed state trooper Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, 32, outside a Wawa convenience store, the Daily Mail reported.
Sealy managed to keep police at bay throughout the night and through the early hours of Thursday morning. He fired at officers trying to negotiate a surrender while inside his home at around 4 a.m., WTXF reported. No injuries were reported, as police had already evacuated the area.
At 9:17 a.m., Sealy emerged from his home and began shooting at police.
Police fired back, killing Sealy in the process. He was officially pronounced dead at 9:29 a.m.
Ballard was shot several times after he approached a vehicle in the Wawa convenience store parking lot in the Wilmington suburb of Bear just after noon Wednesday.
State police superintendent Col. Nathaniel McQueen said there were two suspicious people inside the vehicle.
One man got out of the car and shot Ballard several times before he fled the scene, and the other was arrested at the scene, McQueen said.
Delaware Gov. John Carney ordered all U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff in Ballard’s memory. Ballard’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
“My heart is with the officer’s family and the officers who have served beside him,” Carney said in a statement.