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 f...