CANADENSIS, Pa. -- Authorities wearing bullet-resistant vests and carrying heavy rifles fanned out Saturday in the neighborhood around the home of a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, exercising extreme caution on the eighth day in the hunt for a suspect described as a self-taught survivalist.
Although Eric Frein, 31, isn't in custody, "our troopers are determined to find him and bring him to justice," state police spokesman Maria Finn said.
"Due to the violent nature of his crimes, extreme precautionary measures are being taken," Finn said.
Late Saturday, authorities lifted a shelter-in-place order in the wooded neighborhood of Barrett Township in the Pocono Mountains about 100 miles north of Philadelphia, but urged residents returning home to use caution and to stay out of the dense, boggy woodlands where the search was underway.
Police did not say how big of an area they are combing or whether they believed they had Frein surrounded. A police dispatcher said there was a report of gunfire Friday night, but investigators released no information.
State police had told residents in the townships of Barrett and nearby Price to stay inside and asked others not to travel to the area because of heavy police activity.
With officers blocking roads and dozens of homes on lockdown, there was little civilian traffic Saturday in or out of the neighborhood where Frein had lived.
Residents Andrew Killinger and Kerriann Sanders had to make alternate wedding plans.
The wedding was supposed to be at their home, but Killinger left Friday evening to pick up the food and when he returned, police would not let him back in. He spent the night in his SUV while Sanders spent a nerve-wracking night at home with their 2-year-old daughter.
The couple got the wedding rescheduled at nearby Pocono Manor on Saturday, and Sanders persuaded local authorities to send a police cruiser to pick her up and drive her and her daughter out of the neighborhood. Police told the couple nothing about what was happening.
"They're keeping it hush-hush," Killinger said.
Police have charged Frein with opening fire from the woods outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania on Sept. 12. Cpl. Bryon Dickson was killed, and Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded by a gunman with a high-powered rifle.
Frein has been on the run ever since. He was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, and hundreds of law enforcement officials have been searching for him in the dense woodlands surrounding his home in Canadensis. Schools in the area were closed again Friday.
Frein belonged to the rifle team at Pocono Mountain High School and as an adult joined a group that performed military re-enactments based on Cold War battles in Eastern Europe.
"He was a very friendly guy to me," said Jeremy Hornbaker, who hired him for a documentary. "We left on very good terms."
Frein's father, retired Army Maj. E. Michael Frein, told police that he had taught his son to shoot. He "doesn't miss," the father told state police during a search of the family home, when he also disclosed that an AK-47 and a .308 rifle with a scope were missing. A copy of the book, Sniper Training and Employment, was found in his bedroom.
It was Frein's abandoned vehicle that led police to their door. The green Jeep, registered to his parents, was found partly submerged in a local pond days after the shooting. Shell casings that matched the state police ambush were still inside, as were Frein's driver's license, Social Security card, camouflage paint and military gear.
Frein's only known legal problems stemmed from the 2004 theft of some vendor items at a World War II re-enactment in Odessa, New York. He failed to show for his trial and was arrested in Pennsylvania as a fugitive from justice.
Local resident Joe Ksiaskiewicz tried to pass through a roadblock to get home late Saturday morning but was stopped by officers.
Ksiaskiewicz said the officers told him it was a "critical time" and would not let him pass. He had hoped to get through to be with his 27-year-old daughter, Ellen, who was stuck at home while he and his wife spent the night with their older daughter because they couldn't enter their neighborhood.
"She's ready to be done," Ann Winner said of her sister. "She's been listening to helicopters all night."
Canadensis resident Richard Barry couldn't get home from work Friday night before the roadblocks went up. Barry said Saturday morning that he heard from family members who were at home and they told him police were going through their yard and the dog was barking.
Worried about his family, he said he preferred to wait near police in hopes of hearing something rather than staying overnight at the firehouse.
"I'm hoping that sooner or later [Frein] just says 'I give up. You win,'" Barry said.
Information for this article was contributed by Maryclaire Dale of The Associated Press.
A Section on 09/21/2014