State Police Corporal Charged in Firearms Training Death

Corporal Richard Schroeter (Photo courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)

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A State Police corporal has been charged in the September firearms training accident that led to the death of a State Police trooper.

Corporal Richard Schroeter faces five counts of recklessly endangering another person in the death of Trooper David Kedra, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and acting State Police Commissioner Marcus L. Brown announced Tuesday.

A Grand Jury did not find sufficient evidence for involuntary manslaughter charges, the District Attorney’s Office said.

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.

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

“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.

“Although respected by many within our community as a dedicated law-enforcement officer, the interests of justice mandate that Corporal Schroeter be held criminally accountable for his conduct,” Ferman said Tuesday.

Schroeter was arrested Tuesday morning and arraigned before Magisterial Justice Francis J. Bernhardt. Bail was set at $50,000; Schroeter waived his preliminary hearing.

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