State Police say Trooper Donald R. Fredenburg died Friday morning during a training exercise in Albany. Geoff Redick has more.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A 23-year-old state trooper from the Utica area is dead after he collapsed during a training exercise Friday morning at the University of Albany.
The superintendent of state police says Trooper Donald R. Fredenburg, was participating in a daily physical training run with members of the 203rd Basic School around 6 a.m., when he collapsed about a quarter mile into their morning run.
Police say he grabbed at his side in pain, before collapsing.
Troopers who were running with Fredenburg were able to restart his heart with defibrillator, but he died an hour later at Albany Medical Center.
At this time the cause of death has not been determined, but an autopsy will be performed on Friday.
This was only Fredenburg's second week of training with State Police.
"It was an initiation into the New York State Police that many of them probably were not ready to be initiated into and that is the tragic death of an individual something that we deal with in the roles that we occupy as members of this agency," said NYSP Director of Training Major Richard Smith.
Fredenburg is survived by most of his family, including his wife Angela.
He formerly served as a U.S. Marine from 2009 to 2013.
The State Police expect Fredenburg will receive a funeral at some point in the near future, will full military honors. Details have yet to be announced.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed all flags on state government buildings to be at half-staff on Monday, March 16, in honor of Fredenburg.
Cuomo released a statement which said, “It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of State Police Trooper Donald R. Fredenburg, who passed away this morning after collapsing during a training exercise. A Utica native, Trooper Fredenburg put his life on the line for his fellow New Yorkers as a U.S. Marine, and was prepared to do the same during his training as a New York State Trooper. He represented the ideal of service to another that defines the State Police so well. My heart goes out to the friends and family of Trooper Fredenburg, and I am directing that flags on all state government buildings be flown at half-staff on Monday, March 16 in his memory.”