Pennsylvania trooper shot dead during gun training
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday ordered Pennsylvania flags to fly at half-staff at the state Capitol and in Montgomery County in honor of a state trooper who was accidentally shot and killed during a gun training exercise at a safety facility.
Trooper David Kedra was shot in the chest Tuesday during a yearly training exercise at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Complex in Conshohocken, near Philadelphia, state police said. He is the second trooper to be shot dead this month following Cpl. Bryon Dickson’s death in an ambush on Sept. 12.
Kedra, 26, was flown by helicopter to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had been a member of the Pennsylvania State Police since June 2012.
The campus where the shooting occurred has classrooms and training facilities for firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians.
The shooting remains under investigation, and state police didn’t disclose many details.
State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said it was with “an extremely heavy heart and deep sorrow” that he announced the death of Kedra, the 96th member of the state police to be killed in the line of duty.
“He died serving the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the men and women of the Pennsylvania State Police mourn his loss and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends,” Noonan said.