WILTON, N.Y. – A veteran New York state trooper was hit by a vehicle and killed Wednesday while investigating a tractor-trailer parked in a median in front of his police station, authorities said.

Trooper Timothy Pratt, 55, had stopped his patrol vehicle around 6:15 a.m. while on duty near the station where he worked in Wilton, 35 miles north of Albany, Maj. William Keeler said.

Pratt, who had just started his shift, walked over to talk to the truck driver and was hit by a passing car on Ballard Road after he stepped away from the truck in the pre-dawn darkness, Keeler said.

The 30-year veteran, a father of three, was initially taken to nearby Saratoga Hospital, then airlifted to Albany Medical Center, where he died about three hours after the crash, officials said.

The driver of the car that hit Pratt wasn’t expected to be charged, state police said.

“There doesn’t appear to be any criminality involved,” Keeler said. “This was a tragic accident.”

Keeler, who was in the same graduating class as Pratt at the State Police Academy, called his colleague “terrific” and “an all-around nice guy.”

Pratt, who lived in nearby South Glens Falls, served his entire state police career in eastern New York. In September, the U.S. Air Force veteran led the state’s annual Sept. 11 memorial motorcycle ride to the World Trade Center site, an event Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo participated in.

“Trooper Pratt was a loving father, friend and neighbour who worked each and every day to make his community and all of New York a better place,” said Cuomo, who ordered all flags on state-owned properties to be flown at half-staff.

Pratt’s survivors include his fiancee, two sons and one daughter. Funeral arrangements are pending.

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This story has been corrected to show the trooper was struck after stepping away from the truck, not after getting out of his patrol vehicle.