A 28-year-old Howard County police recruit died yesterday shortly after finishing a two-mile run at the police academy in Columbia, authorities said.
Roger Dale Cassell Jr. -- whose brother is a Howard County police officer and whose father is a state police detective -- finished the run and was cooling down with several other recruits when he collapsed about 3:45 p.m. in the parking lot.
Police officials said a heart attack was the likely cause of death. An autopsy might be performed, depending on the wishes of Mr. Cassell's family, police said.
The academy is in the Gateway Industrial Park in the 6700 block of Gateway Drive. The county's fire and police departments use the facility for training, and numerous people came to Mr. Cassell's aid, said Sgt. Steve Keller, a county police spokesman.
"He was getting CPR almost immediately, between all the police recruits and fire department personnel who were there," Sergeant Keller said.
Mr. Cassell, who lived in the 5800 block of Whisper Way in Elkridge, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Howard County General Hospital.
The recruit -- who had passed a physical to gain acceptance to the academy class -- was in his sixth week of training to become a county police officer. The police department requires 20 weeks of classroom instruction and about 12 weeks of field training.
Although Mr. Cassell was in the classroom portion of the training, he and the other recruits were still required to keep physically fit, Sergeant Keller said.
"It's an ongoing physical conditioning. They've been running since the start of the academy," Sergeant Keller said.
Recruits run about two miles along the roads in the industrial park. Mr. Cassell, who is listed on his driver's license as 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, collapsed about 15 minutes after the run, Sergeant Keller said.
Mr. Cassell's health appeared to be good, and he did not have any problems on other runs, police officials said.
"All recruits have a complete physical prior to being hired. He passed that OK. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have been hired," Sergeant Keller said.