Georgia’s law enforcement community suffered another loss Thursday when a Georgia State Patrol trooper cadet collapsed during training and later died after being rushed to the hospital, officials said.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety announced the death of Patrick Dupree during the state’s 113th trooper school. After Dupree and other cadets finished performing a training exercise, the department said Dupree collapsed.
Medical staff at the trooper school performed lifesaving measures, but Dupree could not be revived, state officials said.
Authorities did not provide further information about what caused Dupree’s collapse or what exercise the cadets were performing prior to him losing consciousness. His cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, a department spokesperson said.
No other details about the incident have been released.
The announcement comes after two Cobb County sheriff’s deputies were gunned down Thursday night, leaving the state’s law enforcement community reeling. The deputies were attempting to serve a warrant in a quiet subdivision, Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens said at a news conference early Friday morning. They knocked on the door of the home, but after receiving no answer, they were returning to their patrol cars when at least one suspect opened fire, shooting them both, Owens said.
DPS announced Dupree’s death about five hours after posting a message of condolence for the Cobb sheriff’s office.
Dupree is the 28th DPS officer to die in the line of duty since 1911, according to the department’s website, and the first in more than a decade. In 2010, Trooper Chadwick Thomas Lecroy was shot by a suspect after a chase and crash in Atlanta.
Prior to entering trooper school in July, Dupree had been employed as a law enforcement officer for more than five years, according to records kept by Georgia’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council. The bulk of his experience came with the Euharlee Police Department in Bartow County between March 2015 and July 2021. Dupree’s POST records list no disciplinary sanctions.
“The Department of Public Safety sends its sincerest condolences and prayers to the family and coworkers of Trooper Cadet Dupree,” the organization said. “We ask that you keep Trooper Cadet Dupree’s family in your prayers as they cope with the loss of their loved one.”
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