Former State Trooper Pleads Guilty in Firearms Training Death

By KARA SEYMOUR

A former State Police corporal has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a September firearms training accident that led to the death of a 26-year-old State Police trooper.

Richard Schroeter, 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to five counts of recklessly endangering another person in the death of Trooper David Kedra, according to reports. Each count is a second-degree misdemeanor and has a maximum sentence of one to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to The Reporter.

Schroeter was conducting a firearms training session on Sept. 30, 2014, at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Campus in Plymouth Township when he pulled the trigger on his duty-issued firearm, authorities said. The weapon discharged, fatally wounding Kedra. Schroeter was discussing trigger mechanics at the time, authorities said.

He was arrested in February.

Four other troopers were at the training session, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“The Grand Jury concluded that although Schroeter is an experienced officer and highly trained firearms instructor who is very familiar with generally accepted safety procedures, he did not follow necessary precautions during the Sept. 30 training,” the District Attorney’s Office said when the charges were filed.

“Trooper Kedra was a very hard worker who applied himself to his studies and his job,” Captain James Raykovitz, Commander Troop K, said shortly after the incident. “He was a good investigator and always had a smile on his face. He was well liked by his peers and supervisors.”

Kedra was a resident of East Coventry Township, Chester County. Raised in Northeast Philadelphia, he was a 2006 graduate of Roman Catholic High School and 2010 graduate of Temple University.