Frein "definitely taken by surprise" after lengthy hunt

For 48 tense days, hundreds of law enforcement officials fanned out across the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania in a grueling manhunt for the 31-year-old survivalist armed with high-powered weaponry and explosives.

In the end, Frein surrendered meekly around 6 p.m. Thursday to a team of U.S. marshals who stumbled across him near an abandoned airplane hangar some 30 miles from the rural barracks where he allegedly opened fire Sept. 12, killing a trooper and seriously injuring another.

Noonan said Frein was "definitely taken by surprise" when searchers found the suspect in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, a few miles from his parents' home. "He was away from the hangar and in an open field when we apprehended him," he said.

Frein's arrest included a special salute to the trooper killed in the Sept. 12 ambush: Authorities placed him in the handcuffs of slain Cpl. Bryon Dickson and put him in Dickson's squad car for the ride back, under heavy police escort, to the Blooming Grove barracks.

Pike County District Attorney Raymond Tonkin said Friday that Eric Frein's capture and preliminary arraignment Friday brought some comfort to the region after an "unimaginable loss of unspeakable proportions."

Eric Matthew Frein's booking photo.

PIKE COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said Frein has spoken since his capture, but wouldn't disclose details of what he's said, or a possible motive. "I've characterized his actions in the past as pure evil, and I stand by that," Bivens said.

When asked at a press conference whether Frein's capture came as the result of a specific tip, Bevins replied that it came as the result of "ongoing pressure" by law enforcement engaged in "grid searches, woodland searches, house-to-house, cabin-to-cabin."

"One of the teams located him as part of a routine sweep of the woods they were conducting," Bevins said.

He said that Frein's capture brought "a sense of relief no one else would be injured in the course of this manhunt.

According to the State Police, the search has cost about $10 million.

Noonan, who characterized Frein as "dedicated to killing law enforcement members," said the suspect was in good physical condition following 48 days on the run: "He's not damaged at all and he did not require any medical attention -- healthier than I would have expected," he said.

After the shooting, Frein disappeared deep into the woods. He eluded multiple agencies looking for him, but left behind clues of his whereabouts including weapons, ammunition and soiled diapers.

At Frein's preliminary arraignment Friday, he will be faced with multiple charges, including murder in the first degree; homicide of a law enforcement officer; attempted murder in the first degree; attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer; assault of a law enforcement officer; possession of weapons of mass destruction; discharging a firearm into an occupied structure; possession of an instrument of crime; and reckless endangerment.

The weapons of mass destruction charge came after investigators found a cache of items abandoned at a campsite, including two homemade IEDs.

"He has been stripped of his guns, his bombs, and now his freedom," Sam Rabadi, chief of the Philadelphia office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said at a late-night news conference.

Prosecutors say they want to see Frein convicted and then executed.

The quiet takedown of Frein, who kneeled and put his hands up when marshals approached him, ended weeks of tension and turmoil in the area, as authorities at times closed schools, canceled outdoor events and blockaded roads to pursue him. Residents grew weary of hearing helicopters whirring overhead, while small businesses suffered mounting losses and town supervisors canceled a popular Halloween parade.

"It feels good to know there's a guy like this off the streets," said Gregory Kubasek, 19, of Marshalls Creek, who drove to the barracks Thursday night to catch a glimpse of Frein.

The manhunt had disrupted some plans for trick-or-treating, but Halloween festivities in Barrett Township, in the heart of the search zone, were back on.

"We as a town think the kids have gone through enough," said Ralph Megliola, chairman of the township

Helen Blackmore, who lives in nearby Cresco, was ready for some normalcy.

"It was very crazy here. The helicopters were out all the time. Nobody was sleeping. Even today they were out," she said. "We're relieved. We're very relieved. We want things to get back to normal."

After being processed, Frein left the barracks in handcuffs around 1:30 a.m. Friday and was taken to the Pike County Correctional Facility. His nose looked swollen and he appeared slightly bloodied above one eye.

State police said they didn't know whether Frein, who was unarmed when captured, had been using the hangar as a shelter during his seven weeks on the run, and they wouldn't say what they found there.

"He did not just give up because he was tired," Noonan said. "He gave up because he was caught."

Dickson's family, as well as wounded Trooper Alex Douglass and his family, expressed "relief and gratitude" over Frein's arrest, Noonan said.

Police said they linked Frein to the ambush after a man walking his dog discovered his partly submerged SUV three days later in a swamp a few miles from the shooting scene. Inside, investigators found shell casings matching those found at the barracks as well as Frein's driver's license, camouflage face paint, two empty rifle cases and military gear.

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