VSP Trooper Killed in Crash While Responding to Fatal Wreck

Smith, 27, was on his way to respond to another crash in Southern Virginia when his patrol vehicle went off the road, state police said in a statement.

Dispatch received a call that originally sounded like a trooper needing CPR, prompting an urgent response.

The trooper lost control of his cruiser on the ramp from Interstate 295 south to Interstate 95 north in Prince George County. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital where he died, officials said.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller says the accidents occurred Monday morning. “These kinds of scenes, these kinds of incidents is not easy and it never gets any easier”. Shaw was transported to Southside Regional Medical Center, where he died.

The preliminary investigation suspects there was intercommunication on the radio. Other troopers in the area understood the request to mean there was a trooper in distress, the release states.

The ramp from I-295S to I-95 has since reopened.

He was assigned to the Richmond Division Area 7 Office, which includes the cities of Hopewell and Petersburg, and the counties of Dinwiddie, Nottoway and Prince George.

Smith had been rushing to help another trooper who’d radioed for assistance while responding to a fatal crash, although state police investigators later determined the trooper was not in danger, Geller said.

They ask to make checks payable to the VSPA-ERF and notate “Smith” on the memo line of your check. Visit www.vspa.org and click on Emergency Relief Fund. It is important to put “Smith” in the note section of your Paypal contribution.