Schools closed in Pocono Mountain School District amid search for suspected cop killer Eric Frein

PARADISE TWP., Pa. -- The Pocono Mountain School district has announced that all schools will be closed Tuesday amid the search for accused cop killer Eric Frein in the area.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Tom Kelly said in a statement that classes were canceled "as a result of the police activity in the area of the school."

The early morning announcement from the district came even after district officials said Monday night that schools would be open Tuesday, with students remaining indoors and athletic practices moved off site.

It wasn't immediately clear what changed their minds, but Superintendent Elizabeth Robison has said the district is in close contact with state police.

The Associated Press reports that a statement posted on the district's website Monday night, and since taken down, said Robison spoke to a state police official who "expressed his commitment to student safety and assured her that he will notify her immediately if he ever has a safety concern for any of our schools or campuses."

This move came after an officer with Pocono Mountain Regional Police reported seeing a man dressed in green in a wooded area near the Swiftwater Post Office around 2 p.m. Monday, leading to an intensive police search but no capture.

"He lost visual contact with the man through the woods. A search of the area was conducted but no one was located," Trooper Tom Kelly said Tuesday morning.

The post office is less than a half-mile from a Pocono Mountain School District's Swiftwater campus, which includes a high school, junior high and elementary school.

The sighting led officers to Matt Caprioli's home on Burton Road. Police dogs tracked a scent right to the man's back door.

Caprioli walked Action News through his yard just a couple of hours after truck-loads of police and federal agents searched his house.

"I didn't know what to think. I thought he was in my house honestly. I thought they had him surrounded and he was in my house and that's what I thought so I let them in to let them get him if he was here," said Caprioli.

However Frein wasn't there.

"This is causing a lot of commotion. I know it's cost a lot of money and everything. They need to get him, they need to get him," said Caprioli.

This second possible sighting came just days after a woman who was out for a walk saw a man who she believed was Frein. Police called that sighting 'highly credible.'

It happened Friday night near the woman's home not far from Pocono Mountain East High School, where Frein attended.

Speaking to Action News, the woman - who did not want her identity revealed - said "He was wearing a dark navy wool cap that was rolled up at the ends."

The man she saw was carrying a rifle and was standing by an empty house and an abandoned truck.

"He had actually turned towards me and that's where you could tell the mud on his face and the height he was based on the truck he was standing next to. You could clearly tell it was a gun, a rifle with a scope attached to it."

READ MORE: Witness in possible Eric Frein sighting gives chilling account

Also on Monday, police said that the blood found in the ongoing search does not actually belong to Frein.

State Police said DNA testing ruled out any link to Frein. The blood droplets were found on a covered porch during the massive search in the Pocono Mountain.

Police say 'material' found on the back door of another home turned out to not be human blood.

While that clue turned out to be a dead-end, law enforcement officials say they are confident. Lt. Col. George Bivens said police have put a "tremendous amount of pressure on him."

Frein, 31, is charged with opening fire outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks on Sept. 12, killing a trooper and seriously wounding another.

Frein has eluded hundreds of officers who have been tracking him for more than a month. He is charged in the Sept. 12 shooting that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounded Trooper Alex Douglass.