Suspect in Pennsylvania Cop Shooting Is a Survivalist - East Idaho News
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Suspect in Pennsylvania Cop Shooting Is a Survivalist

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PennDOT 091614 EricFrein?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1410903214862Photo Credit: PennDOT(CANADENSIS, Pa.) —  The suspect in the shooting of two Pennsylvania state troopers is a sharpshooting survivalist who specifically targeted cops and was out for mass murder, authorities said.

Suspect Eric Matthew Frein, 31, from Canadensis, Pennsylvania, practices survivalism — the ability to survive without the help of government or society, and often storing food and guns, Pennsylvania police said Tuesday.

“He has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder,” State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said at a news conference when he revealed Frein’s name. “What his reasons are, we don’t know. But he has very strong feelings about law enforcement and seems to be very angry with a lot of things that go on in our society.”

A massive manhunt is on in the rural forest area of eastern Pennsylvania to find Frein, who was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, homicide of a law enforcement officer and other offenses. Police describe him as approximately 165 pounds, about 6-feet-1, and with blue eyes.

Noonan said he is still armed and is “extremely dangerous.”

“We don’t know where he is,” Noonan said.

Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, was wounded when a gunman opened fire during a shift change before slipping away, police said.

Lt. Col. George Bivens addressed the shooter directly at a separate news conference on Monday.

“You’re a coward,” Bivens said. “You committed this spineless act and you did it from a place of hiding and then ran.”

A resident who was walking his dog two miles from the barracks spotted a vehicle submerged in a pond and alerted authorities, who matched shell casings found in the car to ones also found at the shooting scene, Noonan said.

The vehicle is a Jeep registered to Frein’s father but owned by his parents, they told police.

Authorities said that multiple school districts in the area of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains will be closed on Wednesday while they search for Frein.


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