Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Kedra

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Kedra was fatally shot during training Sept. 30, 2014, at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Complex in Plymouth Township, outside Conshohocken.

(Courtesy Photo)

A 20-year Pennsylvania State Police veteran was arrested Tuesday on charges related to the death of a colleague during a training accident last September in suburban Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Richard Schroeter

Cpl. Richard Schroeter was arraigned on five counts of reckless endangerment in the Sept. 30 death of Trooper David Kedra, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman announced.



Schroeter, 43, was the firearms instructor at a training session attended by Kedra and four other troopers, held at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Complex in Plymouth Township, outside Conshohocken.



The focus was the state police transition from a Glock handgun to a Sig Sauer, both .45 caliber, according to Ferman and state police spokesman Trooper Adam Reed.



Schroeter was discussing the trigger mechanics when he pulled the trigger on his own duty weapon, discharging a live round that fatally wounded Kedra, Ferman announced.



A Montgomery County grand jury spent four months reviewing the incident and found sufficient evidence to charge Schroeter, Ferman said. The evidence fell short, however, of showing Schroeter "consciously disregarded human life," an element necessary to file involuntary manslaughter charges, Ferman said.



"The grand jury concluded that although Schroeter is an experienced officer and highly qualified firearms instructor who is very familiar with generally accepted safety procedures, he did not follow necessary precautions during the September 30th training," a news release from Ferman's office states.

"Specifically, Schroeter breached routine, yet critical, safety protocol by failing to visually and physically check to ensure his weapon was unloaded; failing to obtain confirmation from another that his firearm was not loaded; and failing to point his weapon away from the direction of everyone present (including Trooper Kedra)," the release continues.



A 2010 graduate of Temple University, Kedra was originally from Philadelphia but had recently moved to Chester County, state police said shortly after his death. He was assigned to Montgomery County's Skippack barracks in December 2012 following his graduation from the academy.



Schroeter was arraigned before District Judge Francis J. Bernhardt and released on $50,000 unsecured bail. He also waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. The next step is a formal arraignment scheduled April 1 in Montgomery County Court in Norristown.

Schroeter's attorney, Timothy Woodward, told The Associated Press his client was "wracked with remorse," but he declined to comment on the charges.

"This is an absolute tragedy," he said. "Right now, our thoughts and prayers are with the Kedra family for their loss."

Schroeter joined the state police in November 1994, Reed said; he is suspended without pay, effective Tuesday.

Kedra was the second trooper to die in September, following the murder of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II in an ambush Sept. 12 at the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County. Eric Frein is charged in Dickson's death and the wounding of Trooper Alex Douglass.