On Friday of last week Cpl. Bryon Dickson was working at the Blooming Grove State Police Barracks and was ending his shift and exiting the building for the night. As he was leaving he was shot by someone hiding in the woods. That attacker was Eric Frein. But he did not stop there, he continued to fire shots on Trooper Alex Douglass. Tragically Cpl. Byron Dickson passed away and Trooper Alex Douglass is still recovering a week later and has undergone multiple surgeries. For days there was no news, and then on Tuesday information broke that they had identified the shooter. A local resident had discovered his vehicle about 2 miles away partially submerged in a retaining pond, inside there were shell casings, and the ID and social security card of Eric Frein. This information led to a search of his parents’ home where he had been living, but hadn’t occupied for the past 2 weeks.
More information came out that Eric Frein has a vendetta against law enforcement and that he has also expressed a desire to commit mass murders. This prompted local schools including the Pocono Mountain School District and Wallenpaupack School District to cancel school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As more information surfaced and the week went on, Eric Frein landed himself on the FBIs most wanted list at #2. Thursday night is when it went from pretty serious, to very serious as residents in an area off Route 447 were not able to return home as they were zeroing in on an area they believed him to be in. We live 10-15 minutes from the area they were searching, and were out when we heard the news, but headed home right away as my mom was watching our kids. I wasn’t about to get stuck out and not be able to get home to our kids, or have door to door searches going on and my mom needing to calm frantic kids.
Up until this point the Eric Frein situation was unnerving, schools were closed, there were many reports of sightings/suspicion from his parents’ home over to East Stroudsburg University. False sightings and reports of gunshots were leading to many false leads that of course needed to be followed regardless. But now, there was more police presence and searching in this area off Route 447 than ever before, but as the night went on they lifted the ban and people were allowed to return home. Speaking with neighbors the next day everyone was a bit scared, and tried to get sleep, but all through the night you could hear helicopters…not exactly a way to get a good night’s sleep.
Friday seemed pretty normal, we were certainly on edge again and I had the suspicion that the search might heat up again at nightfall, and it did. No sooner was it dark just after 7:30 when we saw the alert “THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE. THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE ARE ASKING ALL RESIDENTS OF BARRETT AND PRICE TOWNSHIPS IN MONROE COUNTY TO SHELTER IN PLACE IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE DO NOT GO OUTDOORS AND REMAIN AWAY FROM WINDOWS OR OPENINGS TO THE OUTSIDE. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO MEDIA OUTLETS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.”
Living in Paradise Township (which borders both Price & Barrett), and living all of 2 minutes from the Price Twp line we weren’t about to take any chances, got the kiddos into bed and hunkered down to get information as to what’s going on.
Let me say a few things – 1) I give huge props to all law enforcement in general, and particularly to those involved in this search. 2) I love our local news media, but the coverage is virtually non-existant. I’m not asking for false updates or information, but at least one TV station that keeps a pretty constant feed/updates to keep people informed.
Friday night as we tried to learn more we turned to social media, Facebook and Twitter had more updates then any of the local TV stations. Accurate? Maybe not, but you could follow local news reporters that were at least giving some type of update, local TV was running local football games and Friday night TV. As a resident wanting updates you feel like you’re going nuts – they have the area on lockdown, many people can’t get home or leave their houses, and its business as usual.
CNN ran live coverage early on (local news stations had blurbs during the “regular news hours” later on and a few cut in for a few moments with an update) – but their reports of “They have him cornered” might have been a bit stretched. Looking at social media this morning made it look like he’s still hiding out in a house and they know exactly where he is…but since last night there’s no new details, even though they’re still concentrated on that area. It’s very possible law enforcement is keeping it hush-hush and they know where he is, but if so, would there really be a reason to keep everyone else on lockdown? Wouldn’t you at least lift the ban in the 1 of 2 townships where you know for sure he isn’t?
There were reports of shots fired from numerous residents, and that seems to be part of the problem. Thursday night it was assumed the lockdown was to flush him out during night hours where I would think they could use heat seeking technology, look for fires, etc. to narrow the area down a bit. Friday night and Saturday morning, part of the problem is that residents are either frustrated or clueless and just adding to the problem. I get that it’s an inconvenience, but I think everyone will agree we want him found sooner rather than later. Running around trying to rob homes like one guy was doing, or letting your kids out with flashlights during a lockdown(per police scanner which at the height of last night had just shy of 23,000 listeners) or trying to interfer in any manner really does not help the situation. Also, it’s NOT a good time to be out hunting, or shootings guns for any reason in the search area. It’s not out of the norm to hear gunshots, many people are out hunting, or doing whatever, it’s just not good timing.
Again I get, and relate to the inconvenience. If you’re stuck home be glad you’re home, and that you didn’t go out and can’t get back home – for those stuck out, yes that truly does suck. There was a bride & groom set to marry today, but she was locked down in her home, and her fiancé could not get to the house, she has since been escorted out of the area and reunited with him.
The area they are searching/have locked down, is not far-fetched – if you look at the barracks where the initial shooting occurred and where Eric Frein’s parents house is, if you had to walk a path from point A to point B, that’s the path you would take.
For anyone not living in the area, there are large large areas of the Poconos that are just woods. Many residents have heavily wooded backyards, now that the weather is changing we can finally start to see through areas of the woods, but on a normal day I can’t see my back neighbors due to the amount of woods, it’s a normal thing. We also have bears, people do shoot of guns to scare them away, and it’s not like you see a black bear hanging out during the day. Somewhere they create hiding spots that are large enough to hide A BEAR during the day, so it’s not a stretch to think Eric Frein wouldn’t utilize these spots as well.
Eric Frein is as much of a threat to the average citizen as he is to law enforcement. We have very little details, if any as to the situation and what we know even less of is the “why”. Why did he target law enforcement? Because of a previous altercation? What’s to say he doesn’t have a vendetta against a school he attended, a place he worked, or that he doesn’t care who or what, he’s just out to create chaos. I’m not saying everyone should be scared and cowering, but that everyone needs to be alert and not stubborn enough to think “it could never be here”. We need every helpful eye and ear looking around for anything suspicious or for signs of him.
We don’t have any information as to why he would want to “commit mass acts of murder” – but I think the warning alone is enough. It’s that unknown that is causing fear among residents. Between school closings, schools that are open moving recess inside, sports events moved inside or to different locations, it all can make you quite nervous. The streets are quiet, kids are inside, you don’t even hear dogs barking – everyone is taking the lockdown as a serious issue. At this point local residents are more concerned that he might break into a home, steal a car, or do some other desperate act to escape, honestly I don’t really think that’s his plan.
Why Eric Frein did what he did is puzzling, it definitely does not all add up. First, the consensus is that it really was a cowardly move, which it was. National news reported it last night as “he ambushed police barracks” – no he did not go crazy, walk up and start shooting, instead he hid in the woods and attacked unseen from a distance. At some point he ditched his car with vital information inside – if police could pull out his social security card & ID then he could have just as easily done the same. It wasn’t a pond that he submerged his vehicle in to ditch to leave it unseen, it was left in a spot where he knew it would be found, and where he knew they would identify him. If you’re looking to escape or be anonymous you definitely do not do what Eric Frein did. You do what Eric Frein did if you’re planning to go off the grid, into a hole somewhere or engage in some type of showdown that you know will not end with you walking away alive. Considering there has been no large incident yet, no large exchange of gunfire, I’ll give you my theory.
Eric Frein had a background of “playing war games” – his Myspace page has links to local Airsoft units, which I didn’t even know what they were. Think of paintball, hiding in the woods, so scoping out your targets, planning how to not be seen before your enemy sees you. Now instead of paintball, it’s a bunch of full grown men essentially playing “military” with one another in the woods, building structures and using old vehicles as cover. It doesn’t make someone odd to do that sort of stuff, but for Eric Frein I think he’s now using this situation as a real life reenactment of these ‘games’ that he’s played for a while. I think he’s enjoying hiding somewhere, to see the people that are hunting him without being caught. A sniper can be multiple football fields away from their target – this isn’t necessarily a close range threat which is part of what makes it so dangerous. This was planned – he didn’t snap one day and run into a place and start shooting, it’s very likely he built a shelter bunker long ago, went to that spot and is just hanging out waiting for ‘the heat to die down’. It’s been in the low 40s at night, pretty cold, but not cold enough that one could not survive with proper gear and planning.
There is plenty of heavily wooded area, abandoned house and abandoned buildings that he could hide out for a very long time if he wanted. It seems that areas are being systematically checked to rule out all of those hiding spots.
Right now, I think law enforcement needs people out of the way so they can do their job, resident’s frustration is currently due more to lack of information than anything else. There are currently no press conferences scheduled (and there hasn’t been one for a while now), local news stations really have minimal coverage on TV, so people are left clinging to police scanners and social media for information.
There is a lot of sensationalism going on with national news, they don’t want to miss the story, but for residents we’re scratching our heads at the lack of accuracy of some of the information they are discussing. Local media is a bit more reserved and sticking more to making sure they have the facts before they speak, but it leaves those confined to their homes in the dark.
My thoughts were that the sun would rise today, the ban would be lifted and then the search would heat up again tonight. Instead the ban remains in place, and residents are left to wonder what’s going on, and what they can do next.
We leave our trust in the law enforcement that is looking for him, our prayers on them that he is found and everyone is safe, we appreciate the news reporters, photographers, etc. working around the clock to get us whatever information they can about this story. For residents that can’t leave your homes, cooperation in staying inside and not contributing to the situation is appreciated. For those that can’t get home, we feel for you. I think the entire Poconos will breathe a collective sigh of relief when this is over with.
The status as of 2pm is that they are still searching, and bringing more units in to a particular area off Route 447, this is the same area they have concentrated on since Thursday. It’s everyone’s hopes that he is found and brought to justice soon.
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