A New Jersey State Police trooper was killed early Saturday after his patrol car struck a deer and veered off a highway in Monmouth County, the authorities said.

Trooper Anthony Raspa, 24, was driving east on patrol on Interstate 195 in Upper Freehold Township just before 1 a.m. when his Ford Crown Victoria hit the deer and ran off the right side of the road into trees. He was pronounced dead at CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold.

His partner, Trooper Gene Hong, 29, who was in the passenger seat, was treated for cuts and a neck injury from the crash. He was released from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton on Saturday morning, State Police Capt. Stephen Jones said.

“He’s very shaken,” Captain Jones said. He added that counselors had been speaking to other members of their troop, at the Hamilton station in Mercer County. Captain Jones said the troopers handled both general policing in smaller towns nearby and patrolling the highways.