Pennsylvania Fugitive Captured After Leading Police on 48 Day Manhunt
A man suspected of murdering one cop and wounding another was finally captured Thursday after a 48-day manhunt through the woods in rural Pennsylvania.
Eric Frein, 31, became America's Most Wanted after he allegedly staked out a police barracks and shot two cops, killing one and injuring the other.
"Got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it," Frein wrote in a diary found at a campsite. "He dropped. I was surprised at how quick. I took a follow-up shot on his head, neck area. He was still and quiet after that."
Authorities say Frein shot the second cop when he came to the first victim's aid.
Frein was reportedly a survivalist and managed to elude police and FBI agents for 48 days. He spent at least part of that time camping in the woods of the Pocono Mountains, where police later discovered abandoned pipe bombs and ammunition.
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.
Law enforcement sources tell the AP Frein appeared to be having fun during the 48-day, multi-million dollar manhunt, which involved K9s, thermal imaging technology, a camera-equipped hot-air balloon, and more than 1,000 police officers.
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 was reportedly captured Thursday in an airplane hangar at the Pocono Mountain Airport. Officials tell the AP he was armed but taken into custody "without incident."