Local state police assist with manhunt
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
Pennsylvania State Police troopers ride in a tactical vehicle to help create a perimeter in the search area for Eric Frein near Canadensis, Pa., on Tuesday. The manhunt for the survivalist accused of ambushing a state police barracks has narrowed to the rural area where he grew up and his parents still live, but Frein, the suspect, has managed to elude capture despite the efforts of hundreds of law enforcement officials.
HOPD
In this undated file photo provided by the Pennsylvania State Police, Eric Frein is shown. Authorities say the target of a massive manhunt may be playing a game with law enforcement as he hides in the woods of northeast Pennsylvania. Police say they’ve caught glimpses of 31-year-old Eric Frein (freen) as recently as Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014.
Associated Press
A Pennsylvania state trooper draws his weapon in a wooded area on Snow Hill Road in Price Township, Pa., during a huge manhunt for suspected killer Eric Frein on Sunday, near Canadensis, Pa. Authorities have had no confirmed sightings of Frein but said they found an assault rifle that he was carrying in the dense northeastern Pennsylvania woods.
Frein
State police Troop B is assisting with the manhunt for suspected cop killer Eric Frein in Monroe County.
Lt. Jeff Fisher, Uniontown station commander, between 10 to 20 troopers from Uniontown, Waynesburg, Belle Vernon, Washington and Pittsburgh have been called to assist.
Frein is charged with allegedly killing one trooper and wounding a second during a Sept. 12 ambush outside the state police station in Blooming Grove.
The manhunt is centered around Canadensis in the Pocono Mountains extends into a second week. On Wednesday, authorities reported possibly laying eyes on the suspect, describing him as wearing black clothing and sometimes a hood.
Upwards of 1,000 law enforcement officials have been involved in the search. Fisher said there are too many troopers involved in the manhunt from Troop B to mention any one particular person.
“We have numerous people involved with the search,” Fisher said. “All of our officers are up to the challenge of apprehending this fugitive.”
Authorities believe Frein, a 31-year-old Canadensis resident and self-taught survivalist, has been hiding in the dense woods surrounding his neighborhood. Roadblocks have popped up sporadically and without warning as law enforcement officials have chased leads. Frein is considered armed and dangerous.
Frein was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list after the ambush at the Blooming Grove police barracks that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, and critically wounded Trooper Alex Douglass.
Fisher said he couldn’t divulge any of the details of the search, but noted that law enforcement community takes this matter very seriously.
“This one hit home in a way that shows that anyone in the law enforcement profession is vulnerable to this type of incident,” he said.
Investigators said they believe the suspect they describe as a self-taught survivalist had been planning a confrontation with law enforcement for months, if not years.
Lt. Col. George Bivens said trackers have discovered items he hid or abandoned in the woods — including an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition they believe he had been carrying while on the run.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.