Police fear trooper’s killer wants a repeat
HARRISBURG – Investigators fear the man suspected of killing one trooper and wounding a second is looking to strike again, the head of the Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday.
Commissioner Frank Noonan spoke about the effort to capture Eric Frein after updating lawmakers at the state Capitol, more than a month after the shootings.
“The thing that’s foremost on my mind is, what’s the cost if we don’t catch him? What’s the cost if he commits another crime?” Noonan said.
Noonan said his concerns about Frein are based on a review by behavioral scientists.
“We don’t think that he’s done this and that he’ll never do anything else,” Noonan said. “We believe he’s the type of individual that is looking to do more types of crimes like this if he has the opportunity. We can’t give him that opportunity.”
Noonan said the search for Frein in the rugged northeastern Pennsylvania woods may be frustrating, but the suspect does not have access to many potential victims as long as he is bottled up there.
The manhunt is concentrated on a heavily forested area around his parents’ home in Canadensis, in the Pocono Mountains. Lt. Col. George Bivens, who met with Noonan and the lawmakers, said Tuesday he still believes Frein is in those woods.
Hundreds of state and federal law enforcement officials are searching for Frein, who’s charged with opening fire outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks Sept. 12, killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and seriously wounding Trooper Alex Douglass.
Police reported spotting Frein, but say they were too far away and could not get to him through the difficult terrain. They believe they have him contained in a 5-square-mile area.
Frein, 31, is described as a self-taught survivalist, expert marksman and war re-enactor who harbors a grudge against law enforcement. He’s considered armed and dangerous.
In late September, trackers discovered a wooded campsite they said was used by Frein and found two pipe bombs, ammunition, food, clothing and a journal that described the ambush.