On April 25, 2007, 29-year-old New York State Trooper David Brinkerhoff was killed during a search for an armed fugitive in Margaretville, New York. The manhunt began the day before after a trooper stopped a stolen vehicle and its driver, later identified as Travis Trim, shot at the trooper and fled into nearby woods. Multiple agencies joined the search through rugged terrain.

Trooper Brinkerhoff was part of a Mobile Response Team that entered a residence on Cemetery Road the next day after a burglar alarm was activated. Officers were met with gunfire from Trim, who had barricaded himself on the second floor. In the close-quarters exchange Brinkerhoff was struck; investigators later determined the fatal shot was accidentally fired by another trooper during the chaotic firefight. Another officer was wounded by the suspect.

The standoff continued for more than nine hours. Tear gas was used, a fire consumed the house, and after it was extinguished authorities found Trim’s remains. An investigation concluded Trim had been fatally wounded by Trooper Brinkerhoff during the initial gunfire. Brinkerhoff, an 8-and-a-half-year veteran, was survived by his wife and infant daughter. Did anyone in the area at the time observe activity around Cemetery Road during the manhunt?