Funeral services for fallen New York State Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 2, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
Brinkerhoff was killed Wednesday, April 25, outside a farmhouse in Margaretville, Delaware County, while searching for 23-year-old shooting suspect Travis D. Trim.
Trim was hiding out in the secluded property after shooting another state trooper, Matthew Gombosi, the day before.
Services are being held in Bethlehem because Brinkerhoff briefly lived in the town and was a member of the Lutheran Church.
He lived on Kenwood Avenue and was married in Bethlehem, said town Supervisor Jack Cunningham, who was alerted late Thursday, April 26, that Brinkerhoff’s funeral would be in Bethlehem.
About 8,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, including Gov. Eliot Spitzer and police officers from the state.
Burial for Brinkerhoff will be held immediately following the funeral in the village of Coxsackie at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
`It’s been sobering; I can’t believe it,` Cunningham said of the tragedy that left Brinkerhoff dead.
Brinkerhoff is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his 7-month-old daughter. He and his family had been parishioners of Bethlehem Lutheran Church for nearly four years and even attended services the Sunday before his death.
`My wife said that she will never forget him looking at his daughter in church and just beaming,` said the Rev. Mark Mueller, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran, who also baptized Brinkerhoff’s 7-month-old daughter.
`He wanted to be connected to a church, and they were here quite regularly,` said Mueller.
Brinkerhoff’s connection to the Lutheran church began in his childhood in western New York.
`His faith was very important to him,` said Mueller. `He loved to worship here and loved the people here.`
Members of the Bethlehem Police Department knew Brinkerhoff well. Some even attended his wedding at Bethlehem Lutheran. Mueller said Brinkerhoff’s wife is doing her best to cope with the tragedy.
`She is strong, she has wonderful family and is doing as well as can be expected.`
Police eventually cornered Trim who they believe was burned inside the Margaretville residence that went up in flames. Trim was driving a stolen Dodge minivan on Tuesday, April 24, when he pulled out a handgun and shot Gombosi after the officer pulled Trim’s vehicle over for a routine traffic violation in Margaretville. Gombosi was not injured from the bullet because he was wearing a chest protector.
An intense manhunt ensued with troopers Brinkerhoff, an eight-and-a-half-year veteran of the state police, and Richard Mattson searching for the suspect. Both were part of the unit’s elite Mobile Response Team.
As Brinkerhoff approached the farmhouse, Trim, who was hiding inside, shot him in the chest. It is believed that the head wound that caused Brinkerhoff’s death came from friendly fire.
Trim shot Mattson in the arm moments later. Mattson is recovering from his injuries at Albany Medical Center.
Police SWAT teams then surrounded the farmhouse and fired tear gas inside the building.
A short time later, the building caught fire, and by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, the farmhouse, owned by Rommel Aujero, was fully engulfed in flames.
SWAT teams were unable to enter the house but were still able to check each room with mobile cameras.
State police issued a press release a short time later stating the charred body inside the Margaretville farmhouse was Trim’s. They found his body in a second floor doorway, holding a rifle. An autopsy confirming his identity will not be complete for several days. It is also unclear how the farmhouse caught on fire since tear gas is not incendiary. Firefighters knocked down the fire so investigators could search the house.
`Today the New York State Police and the state of New York suffered a tremendous loss,` said Spitzer on the day Brinkerhoff was killed.
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