Its just so sad to see this...
State trooper killed in New York
Slain during manhunt for suspect in shooting of two other troopers
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:52 p.m. ET April 25, 2007
MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. - One state trooper was killed and another wounded Wednesday morning in the hunt for a man suspected of shooting another trooper the day before.
Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Eliot Spitzer, confirmed the trooper's death but did not identify the officer, the second to die during a manhunt in the state since September.
State police said a second trooper was also shot Wednesday morning as police searched for Travis D. Trim, who was already suspected of shooting a trooper Tuesday afternoon during a traffic stop here.
Chan Squires, of Margaretville, witnessed the shootout at around 10 a.m. as he was dropping his child off.
"They had a good 20 shots going back and forth. You could hear them ringing out," said Squires, he said he also heard the soft "poof" of a tear-gas container being fired into the house.
Police ring rural hamlet
The farm compound surrounded by authorities, which neighbors described as a weekend residence, is in Arkville, a rural hamlet near Margaretville. An armored vehicle moved in and out of the property several times as police snipers took positions behind a stone wall in the compound, which includes two red barns.
Dozens of police cars were at the site. Other officers were stationed on hilltops overlooking the farm or were shielded by trees and stone walls. There was no sign of activity from the house.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., a robot unit headed toward the house.
The manhunt was touched off by the shooting of Trooper Matthew Gombosi, who was hit in the torso in this town on the edge of Catskill Park at about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. He was saved from serious injury by his body armor, police said.
Suspect vehicle abandoned
After the shooting, police searched for a Dodge Caravan that was later found abandoned. The minivan had been stolen Monday in St. Lawrence County, police said.
Trim, 23, is from North Lawrence, in St. Lawrence County about 10 miles south of the Canadian border. WWNY-TV in Watertown reported that Trim registered at SUNY-Canton for the fall semester, but left after only a few weeks.
Margaretville is about 65 miles southwest of Albany.
The troopers injured Wednesday morning were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Albany, said Trooper Maureen Tuffey, a spokeswoman for the state police. The extent of the other trooper's injuries was not immediately known.
Last summer, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips led police on a five-month manhunt throughout heavily wooded western New York after breaking out of a county jail. During his time on the run, he shot one trooper during a traffic stop and two others who were searching for him, both members of a special tactics unit that was called in to hunt for the fugitive. One of those troopers later died.
Phillips was captured in September and is serving two life sentences.
A bad year for state police
After the intensive manhunt, the largest in New York history, the union that represents state troopers sharply criticized the way state police officials managed the search.
The latest shootings follow a hard year for state police. Besides the troopers Phillips shot before he was captured in September, another trooper was gunned down by a bank robber in March near Elmira.
Also, one trooper died last April near Syracuse after crashing his vehicle while chasing a speeding motorcyclist and another, a Marine Corps captain, was killed in August while on foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
