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Poconos schools closed due to manhunt for suspect in trooper slaying

Some schools in the Poconos are closed today after several recent potential sightings of the man suspected of shooting two troopers last month.

The Pocono Mountain School District said this morning that all schools would be closed today.

Monsignor McHugh School, a Catholic school in Cresco, also said classes wouldn't be held today.

The school closures come after two recent possible sightings of Eric Frein, who authorities say shot two Pennsylvania State Police troopers in an ambush attack in northeastern Pennsylvania on Sept. 12, killing 38-year-old Cpl. Bryon Dickson.

The two reported spottings, one on Friday and another Monday, have prompted police to shift their search area. An intensive manhunt for Frein has been underway in the Poconos for more than a month.

Police reported Monday night that a law enforcement official spotted Frein, 31, near the Swiftwater Post Office, which is near Pocono Mountain East High School.

On Friday night, a woman walking near the school said she saw a man with a rifle matching Frein's description, and police believe she spotted the gunman.

The manhunt has largely focused on the wooded area around his parents' home in Canandensis, but officials have moved their search area in light of the recent reported sightings.

Other leads in the search for Frein haven't panned out: Residents in two homes near Cresco in Monroe County reported finding blood on their porches last week, but law enforcement officials said Monday that DNA tests shows that the droplets didn't belong to Frein.

Schools were also shut down at the beginning of the manhunt but reopened after several days. Classes were in session at the high school, which Frein attended, and other schools in the district on Monday, with extra officers stationed nearby after Friday's sighting.

Frein, described as a "survivalist" is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and other offenses in the shooting outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove in Pike County.

The wounded trooper, 31-year-old Alex Douglass, was seriously injured but released from the hospital last week.