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| FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Pennsylvania State Police shows Eric Frein, who has eluded police, but is charged with killing one Pennsylvania State Trooper and seriously wounding another in a late night ambush. Authorities said Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, that they have captured Frein. |
BLOOMING GROVE,
Pa. (AP) -- A survivalist accused of ambushing two state troopers,
killing one and seriously wounding the other, was captured on Thursday
by U.S. marshals in an abandoned airplane hangar, ending a seven-week
manhunt that had rattled the nerves of area residents, authorities said.
The
apparently quiet takedown of Eric Frein ended weeks of tension and
turmoil in the area, as authorities at times closed schools, canceled
outdoor events and blockaded roads to pursue him. Residents grew weary
of hearing helicopters overhead, while small businesses suffered
mounting losses and town supervisors canceled a popular Halloween
parade.
State police confirmed Frein was taken
into custody Thursday but released no other details. Media photographs
show him sitting in the back of a cruiser with a bloodied nose, with
longer hair than he had in images on the FBI's most wanted posters.
"Way
to Go PSP!" a sign read across from the barracks in Blooming Grove,
where the ambush occurred and where Frein was being held.
Two
law enforcement officials said Frein was captured in the hangar. They
weren't authorized to discuss the circumstances of Frein's arrest and
spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. A federal
law enforcement official in Washington said Frein was armed when he was
captured.
Frein is charged with opening fire
outside the Blooming Grove barracks on Sept. 12, killing Cpl. Bryon
Dickson and seriously wounding another trooper.
Police
said they linked him to the ambush after a man walking his dog
discovered his partly submerged SUV three days later in a swamp a few
miles from the shooting scene. Inside, investigators found shell casings
matching those found at the barracks as well as Frein's driver's
license, camouflage face paint, two empty rifle cases and military gear.
Officials,
saying Frein was armed and extremely dangerous, had urged residents to
be alert and cautious. Using dogs, thermal imaging technology and other
tools, law enforcement officials combed miles of forest as they hunted
for Frein, whom they called an experienced survivalist at home in the
woods.
They pursued countless tips and closed
in on an area around Frein's parents' home in Canadensis after he used
his cellphone to try contacting them and the signal was traced to a
location about 3 miles away. At times police ordered nearby residents to
stay inside or prevented them from returning home.
Trackers
found items they believe Frein hid or abandoned in the woods -
including soiled diapers, empty packs of Serbian cigarettes, an
AK-47-style assault rifle and ammunition and two pipe bombs that were
functional and capable of causing significant damage. They also
discovered a journal, allegedly kept by Frein and found in a bag of
trash at a hastily abandoned campsite, that offered a chilling account
of the ambush and his subsequent escape into the woods. The journal's
author described Dickson as falling "still and quiet" after being shot
twice.
Police spotted a man they believed to
be Frein at several points during the manhunt, but it was always from a
distance, with the rugged terrain allowing him to keep them at bay.
Police said he appeared to be treating the manhunt as a game.
Frein
had expressed anti-law enforcement views online and to people who knew
him. His criminal record appeared limited to a decade-old misdemeanor
case involving items stolen from a World War II re-enactors event in
upstate New York, for which he spent 109 days in jail.
Police
found a U.S. Army manual called "Sniper Training and Employment" in his
bedroom at his parents' house, and his father, a retired Army major,
told authorities that his son is an excellent marksman who "doesn't
miss," according to a police affidavit. Authorities believe Frein had
been planning a confrontation with police for years, citing information
they found on a computer used by him.
A man and a woman believed to be Frein's parents, reached separately by telephone on Thursday, declined to comment.
The
manhunt for Frein in northeastern Pennsylvania had scrapped some plans
for trick-or-treating. The chairman of Barrett Township's board of
supervisors planned to meet with other town officials to try to salvage
Halloween.
"No police were hurt. Nobody else
was hurt. He didn't take any more lives. He didn't shoot anybody else,
from what I understand," chairman Ralph Megliola said. "That's the best
scenario."
Helen Blackmore, who lives in the heart of the search zone in Cresco, was ready for some normalcy.
"It
was very crazy here. The helicopters were out all the time. Nobody was
sleeping. Even today they were out," she said. "We're relieved. We're
very relieved. We want things to get back to normal."
Frein
belonged to a military re-enactors group, playing the part of a Serbian
solder. He had a small role in a 2007 movie about a concentration camp
survivor and helped with props and historical references on a
documentary about World War I.
The FBI named him to its 10 most wanted list.
His
18-year-old sister, Tiffany Frein, earlier acknowledged that he "did
something messed up" but told NBC News that he is "not a psycho."
Frein
is charged with first-degree murder and various other offenses,
including two counts of possession of weapons of mass destruction filed
after police discovered the pipe bombs.
Dickson,
at his funeral, was called a devoted husband and father and
"impeccable" ex-Marine who took his work seriously but also enjoyed
making wooden toys for his young sons and finding humor in everyday
situations.
Trooper Alex Douglass was shot in
the pelvis and critically injured in the ambush, which took place during
a late-night shift change. Douglass remained hospitalized until Oct.
16, when he was discharged to a rehabilitation facility, state police
said.
"If you attack troopers, and a civilized
society, the Pennsylvania State Police will bring you to justice. Eric
Frein is a coward," the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association said in a
statement. "Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and Trooper Alex T. Douglass are
true heroes."
