FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — The Massachusetts State Trooper killed in a wrong-way crash had responded to the call at the end of his shift to save lives and, ultimately, sacrificed his own.
Trooper Kevin Trainor was wrapping up his shift, yet didn’t think twice about answering that extra call for a wrong-way driver on the highway.
State police say almost immediately after troopers caught up with the jeep, Trooper Trainor made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Just one minute later, at 2:04 a.m., the vehicle, a jeep, collided with Trooper Trainor’s cruiser head-on,” Colonel Geoffrey Noble explained.
As a former Superintendent in Chief, Dan Linskey tells Boston 25 news this is one of the most complicated calls for service on the highway.
He explains there is no way to know what state of mind a driver is in or if they will even pull over, leaving troopers with limited options in what can quickly turn into a life-or-death situation.
“Someone’s going to try and get you know on the same direction of path as the car is going and trying to intercept them trying to see if they can use lights to dissuade them, see if they can interdict traffic and warn folks that this is coming forward,” Linskey said.
All of this as the driver is often still coming at highway speed, upwards of 60 miles per hour or more in the wrong direction.
“Obviously, if there’s an ability to use stop sticks, you do,” he said.
Linksey says that there is a split-second decision some troopers have to make, risking it all to save others.
“But we’ve seen a number of occasions where offices respond to these and realize that if it’s not them, it’s the public and they will put their cruisers in harm’s way and brace for impact and hope for the best and unfortunately didn’t have a good result here,” he said.
“Make no mistake, Trooper Trainor saved lives this morning. His courage and his commitment to serve citizens of the commonwealth and even be willing to put his life on the line, which he did today, prevented an even greater tragedy,” Colonel Noble said.
Trainor’s fellow troopers say he was the guy you’d want backing you up, and this selfless act is the ultimate example of why.
[ ‘Guy you wanted as your backup’: MSP trooper killed in wrong-way crash remembered as hero ]
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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