Allegheny Co. detective dies after suffering medical emergency while serving warrants

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FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — An Allegheny County detective died Tuesday after suffering a medical emergency, a spokesperson for U.S. District Attorney David Hickton’s Office told Channel 11 News.

The spokesperson said the detective was participating in the execution of federal search warrants at 11 locations in Fayette County at the time of the medical emergency.

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Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly told Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE that the detective died of a suspected "cardiac event" about 2:30 p.m. in the emergency room of Uniontown Hospital, .

"My understanding is that he was filling out paperwork when he told his partner that he wasn't feeling well," Reilly told TribLIVE. "When the partner suggested that the officer go to the hospital and he didn't object, the partner knew him well enough to know something was seriously wrong."

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, identified the detective as Paul J. Koropal.

“Paul, who was known to all of his colleagues as 'PJ,' was an 18 year veteran of the district attorney’s office, having spent the past 16 years as a member of the Pennsylvania State Police Auto Theft Task Force,” Manko said in a press release.

Manko also confirmed that Koropal began to feel ill and asked a colleague to drive him to a hospital.

“An ambulance was called and PJ was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he later died of natural causes,” Manko said.

Koropal is survived by his wife and two children.