A Massachusetts State Police recruit has died after suffering a “medical crisis during a tactical training exercise,” authorities confirmed Friday night.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, became unresponsive on Thursday during training at the police academy in New Braintree, approximately 80 miles northeast of Boston, department spokesperson Tim McGuirk said.
The academy’s onsite medical team quickly examined Delgado-Garcia and determined he needed urgent medical care. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead the next day.
The young recruit was injured during a boxing exercise, according to local media reports. Sources told CBS Boston that Delgado-Garcia was knocked out for several minutes after he was hit in the head.
Family members are now demanding answers.
“They killed my cousin, and now they are running like cowards,” Omel Canario García told NBC Boston on Friday, saying he doesn’t believe what he’s being told about his cousin’s injuries.
“The doctor says that my son looks like he had been in an accident in a car going 100 miles per hour, because of how hard that boy hit my son,” the victim’s mother, Sandra Garcia, said in Spanish.
“Teeth missing? Brain injury? That didn’t come from boxing, especially a round of two minutes,” Canario García added.
A spokesperson for the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that an “active and ongoing” review had been underway since they were notified of the incident on Thursday.
In a statement Saturday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was “heartbroken” by the death of the “beloved member” of the academy class, who was “known for his compassion and devotion to service.”
No information has been released on who else may have been involved in the incident. State police said earlier on Friday that more details would be provided as they become available.
With News Wire Services