MARGARETVILLE, New York — Heavily armoured police hunting for a suspect in the shooting death of a state trooper and the wounding of two others surrounded a farm house yesterday in the Catskill Mountains.An armoured vehicle moved in and out of the property as police sharpshooters took up positions behind a stone wall in the compound, looking for Travis D. Trim, 23, of North Lawrence. Other officers were stationed on overlooking hilltops or were shielded by trees and walls.

There was no sign of activity from the house, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether any residents were there or in its two red barns. Neighbours described the property as a weekend residence in Arkville, a hamlet near Margaretville.

The stand-off comes just seven months after the arrest of a man who shot three troopers, one fatally, during a months-long manhunt in western New York.

The first shooting Trim is accused of occurred Tuesday, after a trooper stopped him in a stolen minivan for a minor traffic infraction in the Margaretville area.

When Trim failed to provide identification Trooper Matthew Gombosi told him he was under arrest, said Preston L. Felton, acting superintendent of the State Police.

At that point, Felton said, Trim pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Gombosi. His body armour kept him from being seriously injured, but the suspect escaped, police said.

Police swept through the area and found the stolen Dodge Caravan abandoned on a road in nearby Middletown.

Yesterday morning, Troopers David C. Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson were shot during a confrontation while searching the Arkville farm for Trim, Felton said.

“They had a good 20 shots going back and forth,” said Chan Squires of Margaretville, who witnessed the shootings. “You could hear them ringing out.”

The wounded troopers were pulled from the house by two other officers who were helping search the farm as part of a massive police sweep through the area.

Brinkerhoff, who was shot in the head, died shortly after the shooting. Mattson, wounded in the left arm, was in serious but stable condition after surgery at Albany Medical Center, where he had been taken by helicopter.

Brinkerhoff, 29, an eight-year member of the state police, is survived by his wife and a seven-month-old daughter. He is the second New York state trooper and the second member of the force’s specially trained Mobile Response Team to be slain during a manhunt since September.

Last summer, Ralph “Bucky” Phillips led police on a five-month manhunt throughout heavily wooded western New York after breaking out of a county jail. During his time on the run, he shot one trooper during a traffic stop and two others who were searching for him. One of those troopers later died.

Phillips was captured in September and is serving two life sentences. After that manhunt, the union that represents state troopers sharply criticised the way state police officials managed the search.

Trim has a 2005 conviction for driving while intoxicated and aggravated, unlicensed operation, but his grandmother said he had tried to turn his life around.

“He wanted to go to college. We talked to his probation officer to help fix it up,” Ruth Trim said in a telephone interview from her home in Dickinson Center. “I’m devastated. He was going to go to college to make something of himself. Now, he’s really ruined his life.”

Trim had been enrolled briefly at the State University of New York-Canton but withdrew in November, said Randy Sieminski, a school spokesman. He was registered in the school’s motor sports performance and repair programme.

Trim had been arrested on charges of marijuana possession and providing alcohol to a minor while at SUNY-Canton, but his family and officials at schools he attended were stunned to hear he was a shooting suspect.

“It’s all so bizarre,” said Mark Hill, a SUNY-Canton instructor who had Trim in a freshman class. “He had no bad dealings here. He got along with everyone and worked well in team settings.”

“He was a smart kid. I don’t know what happened to him,” Ruth Trim said. “I don’t think there’s any way for this to turn out good now. Not after shooting a trooper. His goose is cooked.”

At the state Capitol yesterday, the Republican state Senate leader demanded the Democratic governor use his influence to bring back the death penalty, saying it had apparently become “open season on law enforcement people.”

A New York Court of Appeals ruling in 2005 effectively nullified the death penalty in the state. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said his chamber would approve legislation next week to bring it back for the killing of police officers and prison guards and in cases of deaths caused by terrorists.