The Latest: Police: Trooper slaying suspect shot dead

Author: AP
Published: Updated:
(Photo via CBS Philly)

MIDDLETOWN, Del. (AP) The Latest on the shooting of a Delaware state trooper (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

Authorities say a man suspected of fatally shooting a Delaware state trooper has been shot and killed by officers after an overnight standoff.

Delaware State Police announced in a statement that the man walked out of the home Thursday morning, “engaged officers” and was shot by law enforcement. He died at the scene.

The unidentified man suspected in the trooper’s fatal shooting 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.

The trooper, Cpl. Stephen Ballard, was slain Wednesday in the parking lot of a Wawa in Bear while investigating a car with two suspicious people.

___

9:30 a.m.

The Delaware convenience store where a trooper was fatally shot in the parking lot will remain closed until the weekend.

Media outlets report that Wawa officials said in a statement that they are “deeply saddened” after the shooting in the parking lot of the store in Bear on Wednesday. They say the store will remain closed until Saturday “out of respect to the officer, our associates and all those affected.”

The trooper was slain shortly after noon Wednesday in the parking lot. Police say the trooper was investigating a car with two suspicious people inside when one man got out and opened fire. Authorities say a man suspected in the fatal shooting remains barricaded early Thursday inside his house, where he fired shots at officers as they tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender.

___

6:30 a.m.

Delaware State Police say officers have come under fire again at a home where the suspect in the fatal shooting of a state trooper is holed up.

Police said in a statement that officers came under fire at the home in Middletown about 4 a.m. Thursday. Police say they blew off windows with explosives, but have not entered the home. On Wednesday night, they blew the front door off its hinges, but did not enter.

A man suspected of killing a state trooper has been inside the house since Wednesday. Police say they’re trying to make contact with the man to persuade him to surrender.

The trooper was slain shortly after noon in the parking lot of a convenience store. Police say the trooper was investigating a car with two suspicious people inside when one man got out and opened fire.

___

4 a.m.

Authorities say a man suspected of shooting and killing a Delaware state trooper outside a convenience store remains barricaded early Thursday inside his house, where he fired shots at officers as they tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender.

Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, 32, was shot several times about 12:10 p.m. Wednesday after he approached a vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store near Bear.

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

McQueen says one man got out of the car and shot Ballard several times before running away. The other man was arrested at the scene.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.