Outstanding Trooper Shot Dead By Suicidal School Principal [VIDEO]

New York State Trooper Nicholas Clark was shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to call about a suicidal and possibly armed man barricaded in his home near the Pennsylvania border. According to reports, the suspect was identified as 43-year-old, Steven Kiley, school principal. Trooper Nicholas Clark was among the responders to a 3:30 a.m. 911 call from the estranged wife of the suspect on July 2, 2018.

Clark was fatally shot during the response and the suspect was later found dead with a gunshot wound inside the home in Erwin, near Corning.

Kiley, the suspect, had been listed as principal of Bradford Central School District.

The 29-year-old New York state trooper is being remembered as a standout football player at his old college.

Clark tried out for the Buffalo Bills before becoming a state trooper.

Clark played college football 2008-2011 at Alfred University, where head coach Bob Rank  remembers the state trooper as the toughest player he ever had the opportunity to coach.

As a linebacker, Clark was a two-time All-America honoree and earned honors from the school’s conference. He held the school record for career tackles at 377 until 2017.

Clark, of the hamlet of Troupsburg in Steuben County, was a two-time state wrestling champion and standout football player who had a wrestling scholarship to the University of North Carolina, where he spent a year, said State Police Maj. Richard Allen.

Clark tried out for the Buffalo Bills before entering the New York State Police Academy, from which he graduated in 2015.

“He transferred back here to the Bath barracks in August 2017, where he was very proud to serve the citizens that he called friends and neighbors, to try to give back to the community,” Allen said.

“A situation like this makes no sense,” said Cuomo. “A 29-year-old with his whole life ahead of him…he just wanted to do good things,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Honoring the fallen trooper and called Clark “a stellar trooper with an extraordinary record. He had his whole life before him.”

A procession of dozens of state police cars with lights flashing followed the coroner’s vehicle on Route 17 carrying the body of the fallen trooper to Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton.

The troopers’ union said it would help with arrangements for the funeral and Clark’s family.

“Trooper Clark is a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of serving and protecting others. Despite the inherent dangers in today’s society, our troopers have answered —and will continue to answer— the call of duty again and again,” said Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association.

Source: New York Daily News | Photo Credit: Spectrum News/CBS News