MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. (AP) – One state trooper has been killed in the hunt for a man suspected of shooting at least two other troopers, a spokeswoman for Governor Spitzer, Democrat of New York, said Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Christine Anderson did not identify the trooper. She said Spitzer has cancelled a speech in New York City and was on his way back to Albany.

The trooper was the second killed during a manhunt since September.

State police said a second trooper was also shot as police hunted a suspect in the wounding of a trooper who was shot during a traffic stop in Delaware County on Tuesday.

The troopers were flown by helicopter to a hospital, said Trooper Maureen Tuffey, a spokesman for the state police in Albany. The extent of the other trooper’s injuries was not immediately known.

The confrontation in Margaretville came as police activity intensified Wednesday morning during the manhunt for a suspect in the shooting of Trooper Matthew Gombosi, who was shot in the torso in this town on the edge of Catskill Park at about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. He was saved from serious injury by his body armor, police said.

After the shooting, police launched a search for a Dodge Caravan that was later found abandoned on a road nearby Middletown. The minivan had been stolen Monday in St. Lawrence County, police said.

The suspect was identified Tuesday as Travis D. Trim, 23, of North Lawrence.

Margaretville is about 65 miles southwest of Albany

The shootings follow a hard year for state police. Three troopers were shot – one fatally – last year by fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips before the jail escapee was captured in September. Another trooper was gunned down by a bank robber in March near Elmira.

Also, one trooper died last April near Syracuse after crashing his vehicle while chasing a speeding motorcyclist and another, a Marine Corps captain, was killed in August while on foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq.