Cops hunt for gunman in state trooper's death

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. - Hundreds of law-enforcement officers fanned out across the dense northeastern Pennsylvania woods yesterday as they tracked a survivalist with two high-powered rifles and a grudge against police, identified as the gunman who killed one trooper in a late-night ambush outside a state police barracks.

Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, is "extremely dangerous" and residents in the area should be alert and cautious, State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said at a news conference in which he revealed the suspect's name.

"He has made statements about wanting to kill law-enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder," Noonan said. "What his reasons are, we don't know."

Frein was charged yesterday with homicide of a law-enforcement officer and other offenses.

The gunman killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, and critically wounded Trooper Alex Douglass outside the barracks during a Friday night shift change, then slipped away.