Quick Facts
Biography
Corporal Stephen J. Ballard (1985 – 26 April 2017) was a Delaware State Police Officer. On 26 April 2017 Cpl. Ballard was shot and killed after approaching a suspicious vehicle at a Wawa in Bear, Delaware. Ballard was the first Delaware state police officer to be killed on duty since 1972.
Shooting
Cpl Ballard was shot and killed on the 26 April after he approached a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa gas-station in Bear, Delaware. After asking the driver and passenger in the car for identification, Ballard asked the passenger to step out of the car. The passenger, Burgon Sealy Jr., got into a struggle with Ballard, then began shooting at him. When Trooper Ballard who was unable to draw his weapon in time, attempted to find cover from Sealy, Sealy pursued and continued to shoot, hitting Ballard multiple times in the upper body and continuing to shoot even after the officer fell to the ground.
Victim
Stephen Ballard was born in Bowie, Maryland in 1985. He graduated from Delaware State University in 2007 with a degree in Criminal Justice, after which he was recruited into the state police force academy. He graduated from the academy in 2009. At the time of his death Ballard had served 8 years on the Delaware State Police Force.
Perpetrator shot and killed
Law enforcement officers trailed the shooter, Burgon Sealy (26), to his home on St. Michaels Drive in the Brick Mill Farm development of Middletown, Delaware; he barricaded himself inside the house and a standoff with police lasting several hours ensured. In the early morning hours of 27 April authorities breached the house by using explosive charges to open windows and attempted to persuade Sealy to surrender. He fired several rounds at the police, then exited the house and was shot by police and pronounced dead at the scene.
Reactions
The death of Cpl. Ballard resulted in an outpouring of support for law enforcement in northern Delaware. Thousands of locals placed blue tape on their car's rear windows in a sign of appreciation towards police. Wawa donated 50,000 dollars to Ballard's family and set up donation drives at all of its Delaware locations. WSFS Bank and M&T Bank establishments in the area displayed signs of support for Ballard. DART First State offered free rides to the funeral events honoring Ballard.
On 5 May 2017 a large funeral honoring Ballard was held in Wilmington Delaware. The ceremony at the Chase Center was attended by hundreds of police officers from Delaware and other states. A funeral procession proceeded down Interstate 95 to New Castle, Delaware. Cpl. Ballard was laid to rest in Gracelawn Memorial Cemetery.
Delaware death penalty reinstatement
The shooting occurred shortly before Delaware legislators voted to postpone a vote on repealing the state's death penalty. Rep. Steve Smyk said that he believed support for reinstating the death penalty has increased with this murders of Ballard and of Delaware prison guard Steven Floyd.
On May 9, 2017, Delaware House members voted to reinstate the death penalty citing Stephen's murder as one of the motivating reasons.