Husband, father, a hero something not lost on his supervisor who broke down while talking about his dedication. The acts of stephen yesterday exemplified the dedication that he brought to the citizens of delaware. So tough. Tonight the man police say shot and killed Corporal Ballard then barricaded himself inside a home in middletown is dead. He died in shootout with police this morning outside that home that he had been inside of for nearly 20 hours. Repeatedly firing shots at police they say keeping a neighborhood on lock down that entire time. Right now neighbors are back in their homes in that middletown area. Investigators say the gunman killed Corporal Stephen bala at the bear wawa then took off hold up inside his familys home in middletown just past 9 00 a. M. This morning he came out of the house and got into a shootout where he died. Fox 29 twines jeff cole is live at delaware state trooper barracks in glasgow this eveni evening. Jeff . Reporter lucy theyre trying to figure out why Stephen Ballard died such a quick and violent attack by 26yearold with criminal history the big question tonight, is why this young state trooper had to die . Corporal Stephen Ballards cruiser now sits in front of troop two glasgow his home base. His hat rests on its hood with a flower. The acts of stephen yesterday exemplified the dedication reporter fellow troopers struggle with their grief the grizzly details his killing emerge. This is a very sad day. I stand before you with an aching heart, a heart that aches for Corporal Ballard, his wife his daughter, his family. Just afternoon in the lot of the wawa in bear ballard approaches a red dodd charger appearing suspicious two men inside. He asked 26yearold burgon sealy to get out of the passenger side. He does. They struggle sealy pulls a handgun and fires. Corporal ballard immediately went to the ground the suspect then fired multiple rounds at close range again striking him in the upper body. Sealy flees in gray honda calling his family to tell them of his crime. He arrives at the family home in suburban middletown. His family alerts police who spend the night using explosives to gain entry. Sealy fires at Police Military style copters arrive as do men in military gear. Just after 9 00 this morning sealy with a criminal history in florida emerges from the house weapon in hand. At 9 17am the armed suspect exited the residence engaged police. He was then shot by Law Enforcement. Reporter thursday morning, in the middletown neighborhood looks like a military end camp while neighbors have returned home. To simply put it, it was a nightmare and with the families that were involved especially the officer that lost his life. He wanted to be the governor some day. And he had the type of personality and the drive that he could have accomplished that goal. Reporter while police remember their dedicated colleague with a mega what the smile. Now in a press conference this Afternoon Police provided very Little Information asked if seay had military style weapons they said he was well armed. Asked if sealy had been radicalized in any way, they said they were still investigating. Live in delaware, im jeff cole. More on all this at 6 00 oclo 6 00 oclock. Well check back in with you. Thank you jeff. The corp. Murder of Corporal Ballard hitting members of the community very hard. Tribute is growing outside what the what where he was gunned down. Dozens of people are leaving flowers and messages and momentos outlined in a banner of american flags and a heart. While they did not know the corporal personally, many of them, all of them are saying they are equally saddened by his death. He was out here protecting our neighborhood. Just really hit so close to home. I just feel really bad. I just wanted to come out and show a little support. Another human being thats trying to keep us safe in the state of delaware. I live in maryland but i ride by here every day going to work, and its just awful. Just awful. Witnesses tell it was wawa customer whos jumped in to try to safe Corporal Ballard performing cpr. Memorial fund is now set up for his wife and his fiveyearold daughter. You can find a link to that on our web page and remember any time news breaks, you will find it on fox29. Com. The other big story were following, of course, the nfl draft. Live look at the parkway. Completely shut down to traffic but, man, jammed with people. Our iain page is in the middle of all that act. Its kind of like wears waldo. There you are. I can see you were a little itty bitty dot amongst the crowd. If you were down here it is incredible down here. Theres probably at least several hundred thousand people down here talking expecting about 200,000 people to come down here on the parkway. Im 6foot three this stage behind me is colossal putting it up for last week or so its all going to happen tonight. Thats where the eagles pick is going to happen. The 14th pick tonight it all gets underway 8 00 oclock. But we have got so many people out here on the parkway, okay, people coming from all over the country. You got eagles fans. Everybody wants to be a part of this huge event so score one for philadelphia because we are showing off our best this iconic ben franklin parkway fort nfl draft experience f youre a fan and you come down here to philly and you wanted to something fun we got lost if you things for you to do. Lets bring in Chris Oconnell part of that experience. Chris . Reporter iain, the draft actually doesnt start for another three hours but the party, the nfl experience for the fans has been going on since noon. Take a look at the parkway there. Hundreds of thousands of people expected in town for the threeday event. As you hear eagles we got the eagles chant going on but we got plenty of other fans take a look at video. Plenty to do. Ive been down here for the past couple of days seeing the setup here and theyve been a lot of people asking me, should we bring the family down . Well, just take a look what theyre going to experience when they come down here. I would say a resounding yes. The weather is going to be g its hot. It is actually gorgeous but right now it is taking shape. Theres tons to do. Lots of activities. Nfl spent 20 million on this footprint here on the ben franklin parkway. 25 football fields worth of fun, and it all started at noon today. Lets bring you back out here now. As we see all kinds of fans. We got San Francisco fans and we got never mine. We got some eagles fans here. Whose your favorite. Um, carson wentz. Carson wentz. My man. Last year, number one pick well see who the eagles pick. Well fine out hopefully before the 10 00 oclock news. Well have that pick and reaction from all the craziness down here at the celebration. Lucy, back to you. Chris, thank you very much. We have got a lot of eagles fans down here as well thats really what a lot of eagles fans are coming down here to fine out chris everyone out here. Who are the eagles going to draft at number 14. A lot of buzz about that. For more on that lets bring in ron burke on the red carpet. Ron. Thanks iain. At the top of the Art Museum Steps theres electricity building as the fans are waiting to see the luminaries make their way down the red carpet. Big night. Many of these players here theyre names called tonight watch the draft as youngsters and coming through the years as Football Players and now theyre on the cusp of becoming professionals. And one player who could be drafted tonight defensive back from usc has gone so far to rehearse what he will do if his name is called. Ive been practicing every day. Sit in the mirror practicing how im going to stand up, button up my suit. Im excited to see whats going on and whats going to happen when my name is called. Im just going to soak everything in right now. Reporter this is great because lives are going to change think about the eagles players who played in put down roots in philadelphia as adults and continued to be a part of the community. Well a lot of these players will do the same thing in their respective city. Just dont know where that is yet. Iain. Exactly, ron. Of course a lot of these fans out here on the parkway and watching all across the country will be wondering who are eat guess going to pick at number 14. Of course last year we got our franchise quarterback in carson wentz. Heres some of the eagles fans. Lets zen it back to you. Sounds like a big old party. Iain check back in in a little bit. Fox 29 Weather Authority is key right now. Beautiful day for a draft or to go down the shore. Live look at wildwood if youre looking to escape the crowded scene in the city this weekend. Isnt that nice . Maybe youre staying right here and plan to check out the nfl today. Experience on the parkway. Because theres so much going on. Thank goodness the weather is cooperating kathy . Unbelievable, lucy. Looks like so much fun down there, doesnt it. It does. Wow amazing down the shore little bit cooler today. But that wont be the case tomorrow. As well have a westerly wind its pretty warm in philadelphia. Temperatures are still around 80. As go hour by hour tonight though for the draft draft cast if youll be out tonight 74 at 7 00 p. M. After sunset we cool it down into the 60s but its still a little humid out there. That will hold the warmth in. Winds out of the southeast at seven by 9 00 p. M. And by 11 00 oclock tonight, still in the 60s. Its going to be mild with southerly wind the temperature 67 degrees. Now, right now, were still looking at some warmth. 80 in allentown. 80 in reading. 78 degrees in lancaster. 71 in wilmington. Look at these winds out of the south. Definitely cooler down the shore as those numbers are only in the 50s and 60s. Ultimate doppler showing some showers. These move through early tomorrow morning. So tomorrow cloudy to start at least near records in our futu future. And some storms to talk about. Summertime storms lucy. Well talk more about that warmth coming up later in the broadcast. Okay. Talk to you very soon, kathy. Happening right now, a Murder Investigation in wilmington. Hate happened along the 900 block of kirkwood street just before 10 00 last night. Police say they found 16yearold tie meisha shot over and over. She died at the hospital. So far no arrests. After the dragging seen around the world on United Airlines flight, why the lawyer for the man in the video is now praising the airline. And the school bell will ring later at a local School District. The surprising reason or maybe not so surprising that the district made its decision. And a crocodile lurking. Why this guy made life a little difficult for some people just trying to do their jobs. And get ready for more delays. Oh, joy. Why new Jersey Transit is warning its passengers to, well, you know what we always say, pack your patience. Question, and be honest. Are my teeth yellow . Have you tried the tissue test . The what . Tissue test hold this up to your teeth. Ugh yellow. I dont get it. I use whitening toothpaste. What do you use . Crest whitestrips you should try them whitening toothpaste only works on the surface. But crest whitestrips safely work below the enamel surface. To whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste you used the whitestrips i passed the tissue test. Oh yeah. Would you pass the tissue test . See for yourself with crest whitestrips. They are the way to whiten. How about this . Another live look along the ben franklin parkway. Thousands of people pouring in to this great venue down here. This is one of the reasons that philadelphia is such a great host city for big events like this. The papal visit here and of course the nfl draft. This is a huge reason why philadelphia was one of the host cities because iconic view of the parkway as you look along there and you zoo those hundreds of thousands of people as we get ready for the nfl draft. Were under three hours away. One of the unique things about this year the fact it will be all outdoors and the weather is beautiful. Were back with more but right now lets send it back to you lucy. Absolutely perfect weather. Well talk to you soon iain happening right now students and local School District can rejoice. Theyre going to be able to sleep a little later as of next year. The Unionville Chadds FordSchool District in Chester County will be one of the very first in the area to change its start time. Now the districts pointing to research that says it is just plain better for students. Our dawn timmeney joins us with more. Dawn, you know what, im thin thinking parents might like to sleep in little bit, too. Reporter i think youre right about that. We both have teenagers and we know its often difficult to get them up in the morning. And astute student at Unionville High School decided to see why and then he took it upon himself to see if he could change the districts policy. He found out science was on his side. Unionville High School SeniorMatthew Daniels has been working on changing the Time School Starts since he was a freshman. It happened so organically. Looking around the classroom. My one friend was sleeping on the desk. Another kid was drinking a red bull. Were all tired. Reporter he sat on county wide student forum. Teenagers need a later start time because of changes to their biological Clock Research shows. Most of us think im just tired. Our parents say kids should go to bed earlier but in fact its actually the science in our rhythm thats dictating these patterns. By the time you actually get tired its so late and having to wake up even before the sun is up. Reporter American Academy pediatrics actually recommends students start their school day no earlier than 8 30 citing academic and health benefits. The district act thank you very muching there are challenges with busing, sports and aft school activities. It decided moving the start time to 8 00 oclock for high school and middle School Students was a good compromise. There are a lot of moving parts but weve been looking at this for over a year now. Where is it going to be easy . Where is it going to be challenging . We think we have a good plan to make that work. Roar report many are for the change. I think its a great idea. The later the better for me. I know my kids its hard to get them to sleep. Well be getting up later as well which is fine because were getting 5 30 as toys get them out the door and teenagers theyre just tired. Reporter Dennis Mccartney lives in nearby School District thats considering a change. He doesnt like the idea. I think the kids are acclimated to the schedules they have now. All of the sports revolve around it. I dont mean to sound harsh but i think our kids or coddle add little too much these days. Reporter retired unio unionville teacher fred, thinks its malarky. I used to teach seniors and i dont believe that its going to make one drop of difference. The kids that were late before are going to be still late. Reporter matt and some fellow students presented their finding to the school board. And they got it done this week the school board voted in yes to move the start of the school day 25 minutes later next school year this will result in juggling for working parents and students who have after school jobs but the district really believes it is in the best interest of students. Lucy . All right, thank you very much, dawn. Jurors deciding the fate of Camden County man accused of taking his son went to the field scene where the police dog discover the three years old body in 2015 along the banks of cooper river in a wooded area of haddon township. Prosecutors are trying to show the little boy could not have walked there alone. They say his father dumped him there. Prosecutors questioned a detective about the condition of brandons socks which were cle clean. The detective testified that during the investigation they had another child walk the trail to prove socks would get dirty. What were the condition of the socks the child was wearing when she arrived down at the creek . They were dirty and wet. And was there any damage to the fabric itself . Yeah, they were frayed on the bottom from what im assuming from shuffling when the child was walking. Prosecutors say creato kill his son because his teenaged girlfriend did not like childr children. She face nos charges. Creato says he didnt. That his little boy wandered off alone. The gunman who ambushed two Pennsylvania State troopers at their barrack killing one now faces the death penalty. Eric frein showed no emotion as the judge formally sentenced him today. Jurors decided he should receive a lethal injection for the 2014 ambush shooting in the pocono mountains. The same jury convicted frein of killing Corporal Brian Dixon and critically wounding trooper alex douglas. Shortly after the sentencing state Police Released a statement that reads in part. Philadelphia police say hes the ringleader behind a massive bike ride on the 59 stress way theyve got him now theyre holding him on list of misdemeanor charges including Disorderly Conduct and obstructing the highway. Police say he organized this wild scene on 676 last saturday. Dozens of teenagers road their bicycles on the highway as part of a birthday celebration. Now state police say this was no party. It was just a dangerous stunt. They rode their bikes in the lane of traffic which is extremely dangerous. Not only to the riders but also the motoring public that are on 676. Police say it is illegal to ride your bike on highway for all those obvious reasons. They take it very seriously. At least four other teens now face charges in connection with the ride. More arrests could come. After that dragging that people saw worldwide, why the lawyer for the man