A Massachusetts State Police recruit died "following a medical crisis suffered during a training exercise" at the academy in New Braintree, the agency said. The trainee, 25-year-old Enrique Delgado-Garcia, had been on life support at a Worcester hospital.
On Thursday, it was reported that the trainee was critically injured during a boxing exercise, which is a regular part of state police training. Sources revealed the recruit was knocked out for nearly 10 minutes after getting hit in the head.
MSP Said Delgado-Garcia Become 'Unresponsive' During the Training Exercise
"On Thursday, September 12, Trainee Delgado-Garcia became unresponsive during a defensive tactics training exercise," a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police said.
"The Academy's on-site medical team, which includes dedicated staff from UMass Medical, responded immediately and rendered aid. The medical team determined that Delgado-Garcia required urgent medical care and transported him via Ambulance to a local medical facility. Despite the heroic efforts of medical professionals to deliver lifesaving care, Trainee Delgado-Garcia died at the hospital."
Delgado-Garcia was sworn in as a trooper by officials, according to I-Team sources. He will receive full state police honors. His body was also escorted by police from UMass Memorial Medical Center to the medical examiner's office in Westfield on Saturday night. The death is under investigation by the Worcester County District Attorney's office.
Delgado-Garcia's Family Demands Answers, Says He Had Brain Damage, Broken Teeth, Fractured Neck
Delgado-Garcia's family is now demanding answers over his death. "They killed my child," his mother, Sandra Garcia, told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra. "Then they declared that he supposedly had a brain damage, 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."
Garcia said her son was "hit so hard that it destroyed his brain and broke all of my son's teeth," adding that his neck was fractured.
Delgado-Garcia's father said earlier that he'd been told that he was injured in a fight at the academy Thursday, but wasn't told more information, including what kind of fight it was or with whom. The trainee had been at the state police academy for three months and was set to finish in two weeks.
