"Suspect sought in fatal Pa. police ambush" by Emma G. Fitzsimmons | New York Times September 14, 2014
NEW YORK — Law enforcement officers from three states were searching on Saturday for a suspect or suspects who ambushed two troopers at a State Police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania, killing one and injuring the other.
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“This is unbelievably heartbreaking to all of us,” Frank Noonan, the Pennsylvania State Police commissioner, said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “Both of them were young troopers with families.”
‘‘This attack was an ambush. Our troopers were . . . shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves,’’ Noonan said. ‘‘It’s a cowardly attack.’’
Related: Ferguson Shooting Video Found
The shootings took place around 10:50 p.m. Friday during a shift change at the barracks in rural Blooming Grove Township, near Scranton, State Police said. Noonan said they were searching for “a very dangerous, armed criminal.”
The violence appeared to be aimed at law enforcement, or at the government, the commissioner said, and there did not appear to be a threat to the public, although he said residents should be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious behavior.
The authorities believe the suspect is no longer in the area near the barracks because they had conducted an extensive search on Saturday, he said.
Now we are down to another lone gunman for this psyop, 'eh?
Noonan confirmed State Police were interviewing a “person of interest” in connection with the shootings but said the person was not considered a suspect.
The commissioner declined to say whether there was more than one suspect involved in the shootings. Officials said the local Crime Stoppers group had offered a $20,000 reward offered for information in the case.
“It’s a grave concern to us,” he said of the shooting, “and we are putting every resource available to the Pennsylvania State Police or law enforcement in Pennsylvania in action.’’
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Law enforcement officials from New York and New Jersey were assisting in the manhunt for the shooter and the search was being conducted on foot and from the air, using helicopters. The township has thousands of acres of state forest and game lands....
Back to one suspect, and this stinks.
Governor Tom Corbett called the shootings a “cowardly act” and said the incident showed that law enforcement officers “face constant danger in order that the rest of us may live in peace and safety.”
Btw, did you know that a report from the Cato Institute reveals Americans are 8 times more likely to be killed by police than by a terrorist, and other studies suggest U.S. citizens are 800 times more likely to be killed by a cop than citizens of Japan, Britain or Germany?
Now you were saying?
“We ask the public to be patient as well as vigilant,” the governor said.
I've run out of one and the other is none of my business.
‘‘There has been exhaustive search conducted by hundreds of members of law enforcement,’’ said State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens. ‘‘We have canvassed the wooded areas, neighborhoods. We are convinced this individual is no longer in that immediate area.’’
I'm leaving, too.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Search pressed for killer of Pennsylvania trooper" Associated Press September 15, 2014
BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. — Investigators returned Sunday to scour the woods across from a State Police barracks where two troopers were ambushed, leaving one fatally shot and another critically wounded.
Troopers also set up a checkpoint near the site where they were stopping motorists to ask whether they had seen anything that could help with the case.
This is smelling like a martial law psyop exercise.
A nonprofit group offered a $50,000 reward for tips about Friday’s deadly assault at the remote post in northeast Pennsylvania.
Reporters saw investigators walk into the dense forest surrounding the barracks in Blooming Grove around noon Sunday, though authorities suggested a day earlier that the suspect had already left the area. The barracks is about 35 miles from Scranton.
The troopers were ambushed around 10:50 p.m. Friday as one of them was leaving the barracks and another was arriving.
Corporal Bryon Dickson of Dunmore was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass was injured. Dickson, a seven-year veteran, had transferred to the region from the Philadelphia barracks several months ago.
Douglass was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery, and was in critical but stable condition.
State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said the ‘‘cowardly attack’’ was directed at State Police and a ‘‘very dangerous, armed criminal’’ eluded quick capture.
‘‘Our troopers were . . . shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves,’’ Noonan told reporters Saturday afternoon. ‘‘It has touched us to the core that such a thing could happen.’’
Shoe on the other foot doesn't feel so good, does it?
Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers, which posted the reward offer, asked anyone with information to notify authorities.
Law enforcement officers from at least three states on Saturday searched state game lands surrounding the barracks in Pike County and beyond.
‘‘There has been an exhaustive search conducted by hundreds of members of law enforcement,’’ said Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens. ‘‘We have canvassed the wooded areas, neighborhoods. We are convinced this individual is no longer in that immediate area.’’
While they have not discussed a motive, authorities said there did not appear to be a threat to the public, although they said residents should be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious behavior.
Police interviewed a man they called a person of interest, but Noonan said authorities are talking to hundreds of people as part of the investigation. He stressed the man is not a suspect.
Dickson and his wife, Tiffany, had two sons.
‘‘They were a committed couple,’’ Melissa Contorno, a friend of Dickson’s wife, told The Times-Tribune of Scranton. ‘‘They were raising a beautiful young family. It’s not fair.’’
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