LORDS VALLEY, Pa. — A survivalist accused of ambushing two state troopers, killing one and seriously wounding the other, was captured Thursday by U.S. marshals in an abandoned airplane hangar, ending a seven-week manhunt that had rattled the nerves of area residents.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Eric Frein, who meekly gave himself up when surrounded, authorities said.
“He did not just give up because he was tired,” state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said. “He gave up because he was caught.”
Frein, 31, was held in the handcuffs of the trooper he’s accused of killing, Gov. Tom Corbett said Thursday at a nighttime news conference.
The quiet takedown of Frein, who kneeled and put his hands up when marshals approached him Thursday, ended weeks of tension and turmoil in the area, as authorities at times closed schools, canceled outdoor events and blockaded roads to pursue him.
Frein is charged with opening fire outside the Blooming Grove barracks Sept. 12, killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounding another trooper.
Police said they linked Frein to the ambush after a man walking his dog discovered Frein’s partly submerged SUV three days later in a swamp a few miles from the shooting scene. Inside, investigators found shell casings matching those discovered at the barracks, as well as Frein’s driver’s license, camouflage face paint, two empty rifle cases and military gear.
Frein had expressed anti-law enforcement views online and to people who knew him.
Authorities believe Frein had been planning a confrontation with police for years, citing information they found on a computer used by him.
