Troopers shot during barracks ambush in Pa. now identified

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police have identified the two troopers who were ambushed outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania during a late-night shift change, leaving one dead and another injured.

State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan says that Cpl. Bryon Dickson of Dunmore was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded when shots were fired Friday night outside the Blooming Grove barracks. The station is in a wooded area surrounded by state game lands. Douglass has gone through surgery, and is in critical but stable condition.

The shooting sparked a manhunt involving law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

No arrests have been made. State police earlier Saturday identified a man they called a "person of interest" but said he is not a suspect.

She confirmed that the man is not in police custody and has not been charged with a crime. Police are still searching for the suspect or suspects.

Just before 11 p.m. Friday, one trooper was leaving the barracks in Pike County's Blooming Grove and another was arriving when shots were fired, State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said. He confirmed that one trooper was killed and the other was injured, and taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Scranton where he was in stable condition.

Noonan said the attack seemed to be directed solely at state police. "This has been an emotional night for all of us," he told reporters.

Law enforcement officials from across the region, including New York and New Jersey, descended on northeastern Pennsylvania to help with the search. The Blooming Grove barracks is in a wooded area, surrounded by state game lands.

Noonan said authorities did not have a description of the shooter or shooters but said they were following several leads.

"We can't say that the situation is completely in hand," he said.

Noonan said police did not believe the general public was at risk, but they are asking everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

Several roads around the barracks, including parts of Interstate 84, were closed Saturday morning. Blooming Grove is a township of about 4,000 people about 35 miles east of Scranton.

Trooper Adam Reed, a state police spokesman, said the Blooming Grove barracks covers most of Pike County, which runs along the Delaware River and borders New Jersey and New York.

"There's a lot of rural area up where they patrol," he said. "As the primary police force in the county, they're going to respond to anything and everything."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.