FAREWELL TO ‘TRUE HERO’
Trooper slain by principal is laid to rest upstate
Family members, friends and law enforcement colleagues of a state trooper who was killed by a school principal remembered him as “true hero” Sunday.
Thousands — including Gov. Cuomo and law enforcement officials — gathered at SUNY’s Alfred University upstate to mourn the death of Trooper Nicholas Clark, 29, whose casket was covered with an American flag.
“He went into harm’s way to protect the innocent, and despite the grave risk that he faced, he performed his duty to help others,” State Police Superintendent George Beach said. “That is a true hero.”
Clark was killed July 2 after responding to a call of a suicidal man who barricaded himself in his home in Erwin, near the Pennsylvania border. Steven Kiley, 43 — the principal of Bradford Central School — fatally shot Clark during the response before shooting himself to death, authorities said.
The unhinged educator illegally owned 12 firearms, including eight assault rifles, authorities said.
Clark is the second state trooper killed while responding to a domestic call in under a year. Trooper Joel Davis, 36, was shot to death July 9, 2017, near Fort Drum, allegedly by an Army soldier who authorities said killed his wife and wounded another woman.
Clark, who played football at Alfred University and held the school record for career tackles until last year, graduated from the New York State Police Academy in 2015.
After the service, Cuomo praised Clark as a trooper who loved protecting his community.
“We bury our parents, we bury our grandparents, you don’t bury your children,” the governor said. “And this was a 29-year-old superstar, everything he did. We wish the family peace and prayer, but it will be with them forever, this loss.”
Cuomo said law enforcement officers are facing more dangers on the job than ever before.
“The world is a more dangerous, more complicated place,” he said. “Somebody has to protect us … somebody has to be willing to do that, to put themselves out there to protect everybody else even though they know they’re putting themselves in danger.”