Cpl. Christopher Shea was reentering Sussex County from Kent County, when at 2:06 a.m. his patrol car met Healy’s 1991 Toyota Corolla. “We believe, through witness information, that only one headlight was operating on the Toyota,” said Cpl. Jeff Oldham, state police spokesman. Healy was pronounced dead at the scene. Shea was transported to Milford Memorial Hospital, where he died at 2:54 a.m.

Lt. Joe Aviola, state police spokesman, said Healy was traveling northbound on Route 1 shortly before 2 a.m., when he failed to stop for a red light at the Route 16 intersection. “Healy’s vehicle struck the right rear of the 1993 Buick operated by Barbara Bradley, 28, of Dover,” said Aviola. Bradley had been turning eastbound onto Route 16 from southbound Route 1. “Bradley sustained a minor injury to her hand and was transported to Milford Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.”

Aviola said the 911 center immediately put out a general broadcast about Healy’s vehicle and the direction it was likely fleeing, and a nearby trooper arrived at that crash site almost immediately. The trooper saw evidence Healy’s car had traveled on the grassy median and struck a highway sign before continuing on, northbound, into the southbound lane.

Healy traveled in that manner for about nine miles, at which point Shea’s patrol car was rounding a slight curve. Aviola said police believe he may have seen the oncoming vehicle at the last second and tried to steer away from it but was unable to avoid the collision.

“After impact, the cruiser rotated counterclockwise and traveled onto the shoulder,” said Aviola. “The Toyota also rotated counterclockwise and came to rest in the grass median. Witnesses reported the Toyota to be traveling at a high rate of speed.” Both drivers were wearing seat belts; there were no passengers in either vehicle.

Preliminary results of the Fatal Accident Investigation and Reconstruction (FAIR) team indicate Healy was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. According to Delaware Department of Motor Vehicle records, Healy faced a DUI charge in 1989 and again in 2001. His license was revoked in July 2001, he completed DUI rehabilitation in 2002, and the revocation was lifted shortly thereafter. His driver’s license was issued in April 2003, and he had no points on it at the time of the fatal crash.

Trooper beloved
Shea, of Delaware State Police Troop 7, was a devoted family man and a highly esteemed law enforcement officer. The former U.S. Marine came from a large family in New Jersey and married Susan Cleaver Shea of Lewes. Shea, the father of 3-year-old son Christopher Jr. and 11-month-old Elizabeth, was also embraced by a large police family.

“It’s a devastating loss for this division, the family and friends - even tougher because it’s so senseless,” said Col. L. Aaron Chaffinch, state police superintendent. “Every person who has ever worn this uniform, whether past or present, are affected by this. It’s traumatic for everyone. Chris was a good, good guy. It’s very hard.”

“It is hard for all of us,” said Troop 7 Cmdr. Capt. Greg Nolt, “but we’re a family, and we’ll get through this like all families do.”

Cpl. Dan Salfas, formerly of Troop 7 and now at Troop 1, was one of Shea’s closest friends. The two developed their brotherhood when they were bunk mates at the state police academy in 2000. “This was one thing he always wanted - to be a trooper,” said Salfas. “It’s almost like when he was in the Marines. He always knew what he wanted.”

“He was just happy to be a trooper,” said Cpl. Hudson Keller, another classmate and a shift mate with Shea at Troop 7. “He was tickled about that. He was a really hard worker.”

When Shea started at Troop 7, he said he one main reason for entering a career in law enforcement. “I chose police work as a profession in an effort to help those who find themselves in a situation outside their control,” Shea said in May 2003.

“Chris strived to be the best in the state police, but he was a real big team person,” said Salfas. “He always brought other people up to make sure they did their best.” Salfas said once they graduated and were assigned to troops, his friend quickly became known as a man who would put forth the extra effort to help his colleagues. Shea’s first assignment was at Troop 5 in Bridgeville, from where he transferred to Troop 7 in the spring of 2003.

Salfas recalled a night Shea was en route to a Maryland hospital to follow up on a case. While he headed down from Troop 5, he came upon a crash scene. He stopped and started working at it, collecting information, until the trooper assigned to it arrived. That act delayed his own case and ultimately lengthened his shift, but helping a victim and another officer was his priority, said Salfas. “You could count on him - always in all kinds of circumstances,” he said. “You need to be able to depend on people in this job.”

However dedicated Shea was to the division and to his job, his friends also loved him for his sense of humor. “He was a talker,” said Keller. “He could talk until the bark fell off the tree.”

“You know how there are some people who can tell a story, and some people who can’t?” queried Salfas. “He could. He would crack one-liners. He made us laugh. He loved Jimmy Buffet - all the time. One time were sitting around [in the academy] talking. Chris just gets up and starts doing the parrot dance. We see him doing it...” Salfas paused. “That’s one of the things...one of the unexpected things he’d do.”

It wasn’t long into his training that Shea earned the nickname The Colonel. During Family Night, someone asked Shea what he foresaw himself doing in the state police. He answered, but his ever supportive wife added her own take on the situation. “And you hear Susan saying ‘And he also wants to be colonel,’” said Salfas, noting although it was funny to picture a student in the division’s highest post, it wasn’t a stretch to think of him climbing rapidly through the ranks.

“He’s an intense individual,” said Salfas. “He definitely had a serious side.”

“He loved his kids so much,” said Tracey Keller, who as a trooper’s spouse often interacted with the Sheas for family-oriented activities. “He worked all those pay jobs so his wife wouldn’t have to work so hard and could stay with the kids. He was such a good father.”

Shea’s was the first in-the-line-of-duty death since Chaffinch became the superintendent, but it is not the first time he’s experienced losing a colleague in the line of duty. Shea’s death was the 23rd in the division, with the last being in 2001 when Cpl. Frances M. Collender was killed while on duty. “It’s not new to me,” said Chaffinch. “They’re all hard, of course, and we hope there will never be another. But this one is particularly difficult because it was such a senseless death. What I told the troopers is we can’t fix it. He’s gone, and it’s in God’s hands now.

“Family is so important for all of us. The Shea family, both immediate and extended, will be a part of the Delaware State Police family forever.”