Washington State Patrol trooper dies of COVID-19

Washington State Patrol’s Eric Gunderson died of COVID-19 on Sunday morning in Olympia.

According to a news release, Gunderson contracted COVID while in service to the state of Washington. He was 38 and had served the patrol for almost 16 years. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

“Eric Gunderson was a respected trooper and public servant,” Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste said in a news release. “His is the first line of duty death since we commemorated our first century of service to this state just a few weeks ago. How I had hoped our second century of service would be more forgiving. But serving the public, as we do, has inherent dangers and this pandemic has been a foe to our agency and indeed our state and nation.”

Gunderson was the technology liaison in the criminal investigation division (CID) and a member of the WSP Special Weapons and Tactics team.

Planning for memorial services will be following the guidance and wishes of the family and will be announced when appropriate.