Authorities recovered a body from an upstate New York farmhouse that burned down after police surrounded it in search of a man suspected of killing a state trooper and wounding two others, a state police spokesman said Wednesday.

"At this time, we have recovered a charred body from the house, but we can't confirm who it is yet," said Lt. Galletto, who did not give his first name.

Officials had a "reasonable degree of certainty" that Travis Trim, 23, was inside the building during the fire, New York State Police Acting Superintendent Preston Felton said earlier.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but Felton said authorities fired several canisters of tear gas into the building shortly before the fire broke out at 6 p.m.

"We're not saying it can absolutely not cause a fire, but it's not constructed to cause a fire," he said of the gas.

Earlier Wednesday, Troopers David C. Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson were shot while searching the farmhouse for Trim, Felton said, according to The Associated Press.

"They had a good 20 shots going back and forth," witness Chan Squires told the AP. "You could hear them ringing out."

Authorities said Brinkerhoff died in the shooting.

"One of our best has fallen and another has been seriously wounded in the line of duty," Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday.

The officers were pursuing Trim after he allegedly shot Trooper Matthew Gombosi on Tuesday when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation near Margaretville. Gombosi was not seriously injured because he was wearing body armor, police said.

"The silence that is in this town right now it's eerie, and our hearts go out to the troopers who are doing what they do to protect us. It is devastating," one resident said.

"Today, the New York State Police and the state of New York suffered a tremendous loss," the governor's statement said.

He asked "all New Yorkers to keep the State Police in their thoughts and prayers during this harrowing time."