LYNNFIELD, MASS. — Massachusetts State Trooper Kevin Trainor died of injuries sustained when his cruiser was struck head-on by a wrong-way Jeep on Route 1 in Lynnfield just after 2 a.m. on May 6, 2026. Trainor, 30, was commuting home from his shift when the collision occurred, and he was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he died.

A 911 caller reported a driver traveling the wrong way on Route 1 shortly before the crash, and several troopers in the area, including Trainor, responded. Troopers located the Jeep at 2:03 a.m., and a minute later it struck Trainor's cruiser on the northbound side of the highway.

The wrong-way driver, identified as Hernan Marrero, 50, of Roslindale, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Essex County District Attorney's Office is investigating the crash. Route 1 northbound at Walnut Street in Saugus was closed for hours and reopened shortly before 8:30 a.m., according to MassDOT, which advised drivers to use alternate routes due to residual traffic delays.

"In the blink of an eye, those reckless actions stole Kevin from his mother, fiancé and siblings," State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble said. "His courage, his commitment to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth and even be willing to put his life on the line — which he did today — prevented an even greater tragedy, for I am confident that had this tragedy not occurred, there would have been countless other tragedies down the road."

Gov. Maura Healey addressed Trainor's actions in responding to the wrong-way driver. "It's no comfort to a family to know, but were it not for his actions, there would be a lot of grieving families today — and that's a trooper doing his job," Healey said.

Dan Linskey, a former Superintendent in Chief, described how officers typically respond to wrong-way driver calls. "Someone's going to try and get you know on the same direction of path as the car is going and trying to intercept them trying to see if they can use lights to dissuade them, see if they can interdict traffic and warn folks that this is coming forward," Linskey said. "Obviously, if there's an ability to use stop sticks, you do," he said. "But we've seen a number of occasions where officers respond to these and realize that if it's not them, it's the public and they will put their cruisers in harm's way and brace for impact and hope for the best and unfortunately didn't have a good result here," Linskey said.

Trainor was born in Beverly and lived in Georgetown. He earned a degree in criminal justice from Salem State University, began his career working at the Middleton Jail and House of Correction, and joined the Massachusetts State Police in 2023. He was a baseball fan and had two dogs named Rio and Java.

His survivors include his fiancée Jessica Ostrowski, his mother Barbara Trainor, his siblings David Trainor, Stephen Trainor and his wife Sophana, Melissa Trainor and Matthew Trainor, his grandmother Ann (Gerrish) Trainor, and multiple aunts, uncles, cousins and nephews. Ostrowski wrote in an obituary posted on the funeral home's website: "Baby, my love, my everything, there are absolutely no words to describe losing you. You were my absolute best friend, and I don't know what I will do without you baby."

Visiting hours will be held Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home in Peabody, with a funeral Mass the following day at 11 a.m. at St. James Church in Salem.