NY state trooper Nicholas Clark, [photo], responded to a domestic call, where Steven Kiley, a school principal, barricaded his home.

A state trooper was shot to death by a man Monday who had barricaded himself in his house in the Finger Lakes region.

Trooper Nicholas Clark, 29, and a Steuben County sheriff’s officer responded about 3:30 a.m. in the suburban town of Erwin, near Corning, where Steven Kiley, 43, a school principal, barricaded himself.

Kiley’s estranged wife had called police worried that he was armed and threatening to kill himself, State Police First Deputy Superintendent Chris Fiore said.

When Clark arrived, Kiley fired on him, mortally wounding him. The sheriff’s officer dragged the trooper out of the line of fire, but it was too late.

School principal Steven Kiley killed Trooper Nicholas Clark before killing himself.

After the shooting, Kiley went back into the home and barricaded himself while police pulled back and called in negotiators to draw him out. After a few hours, police went in and discovered the educator dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Kiley was principal of Bradford Central School, which has 280 students in grades K-12, according to the state education department.

The Steuben County Sheriff’s Department, the Corning Police and the state police were still investigating the shooting.

“Trooper Clark is a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of serving and protecting others. Despite the inherent dangers in today’s society, our troopers have answered — and will continue to answer — the call of duty again and again,” said PBA President Thomas Mungeer. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Trooper Clark’s family, friends and fellow troopers.”

Clark, a native of Steuben County, was a champion college wrestler at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also played football. He tried out with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills before becoming a trooper, the police superintendent said.

State Police block the entrance of Welch Road in Corning, upstate New York after the shooting

“This is a terrible loss and our prayers are with his family,” Fiore said.

Gov. Cuomo flew to the town and offered his condolences to the trooper’s family.

“Everything the police do nowadays is dangerous, whether it be a car stop or a domestic violence incident or a storm or a hurricane or possible terrorist activity — it’s all dangerous because these are frightening times,” Cuomo said.

Neighbors, who were told to stay indoors until the standoff ended, said police helicopters hovered overhead and police shut down the road all morning.

The shooting shattered the calm suburban community around the city of Corning, about 200 miles west the of the city in the Southern Tier.

“It’s a tragedy for the whole community. I feel for the family involved and I feel for the family of the state trooper,” Carol Kowalski, a neighbor, said.
Clark who lived in nearby Troupsburg, New York, became a trooper in September 2015. He is survived by his parents and a brother.