Eric Frein, Suspected Of Killing Pennsylvania Trooper, In Custody

This undated photo of Eric Frein was released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police. Frein, 31, had been sought in connection with September's killing of a state trooper and the critical wounding of another.

AP

Eric Frein, the suspect wanted in the shooting death of a state trooper and the wounding of another officer at a police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania, is now in police custody, Pennsylvania State Police said on Thursday.

His capture marks the end of a month-long, intensive manhunt in the Pocono Mountains.

As we reported back in September, Frein, 31, was described by police as a "survivalist," who had expressed interest in killing law enforcement officers and committing acts of mass murder.

CNN reports the manhunt involved as many as 1,000 law enforcement officers and cost several million dollars.

Tpr. Connie Devens, a public information officer for Pennsylvania State Police, confirmed his capture via email, adding that they would not be releasing further information at this time.

Quoting "a senior law enforcement" official, NBC News reports Frein was "captured in a hangar at Pocono Mountain Airport in Mount Pocono."

Throughout the manhunt, NBC reports, police had found "a diary entry, his AK-47, two homemade pipe bombs and several campsites."

NBC adds:

"In the diary, Frein — a military reenactment buff and survivalist — described how he fled in his Jeep but got only a half-mile before he encountered a roadblock.

" 'Got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it,' he wrote in an entry dated Sept. 12. 'He dropped. I was surprised at how quick. I took a follow-up shot on his head, neck area. He was still and quiet after that.

" 'Another cop approached the one I just shot,' Frein continued. 'As he went to kneel, I took a shot at him and jumped in the door. His legs were visible and still.' "

Update on Oct. 31 at 1:15 a.m. ET. Details On Charges And Arrest:

In a news conference Thursday night, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said he intends to seek the death penalty.

"Among these charges, being murder in the first degree and homicide of a law enforcement officer, are capital offenses," he said.

Authorities say Frein was found in good health, NPR's Jeff Brady tells our Newscast Desk, "despite having lived in the woods since the shooting."

The Pennsylvania Morning Call has more on the arrest:

"Officers from the U.S. Marshals Service captured Frein without incident in a field by an old air strip in the Poconos, State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said at an 11 p.m. news conference. Authorities wrapped the handcuffs of the fallen trooper on Frein, and took him in the slain [trooper's] squad car to the Blooming Grove State Police Barracks in Pike County, site of the Sept. 12 ambush in which Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, was wounded."