Eric Frein: US police killer suspect found after manhunt

Eric Frein is accused of opening fire on the Blooming Grove barracks in September killing a police officer

A man who eluded capture in the forests of Pennsylvania for seven weeks after the fatal shooting of a police officer has been found and arrested.

Hundreds of officers combed woodland for survivalist Eric Frein, who was on the FBI's most wanted list.

He was finally found at an abandoned airport hangar on Thursday. Prosecutors say he could face the death penalty.

Frein is accused of killing Cpl Bryon Dickson outside a barracks on 12 September and wounding another officer.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said at a news conference that Mr Frein was taken away in the handcuffs that belonged to Cpl Dickson.

Surrender

The 33-year-old was described by police as a survivalist who was armed and extremely dangerous.

While his motivation for the attack remains unknown, police say he had made threatening statements online against police officers.

"Eric Frein had a mission and that was to attack law enforcement," Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan told reporters after his capture.

For 48 days, police searched for the fugitive

Hundreds of police were involved

Residents were told to stay indoors

Images released to the media after Frein's arrest show the suspect with a swollen nose and cut above his eye.

Police said he quietly surrendered to approaching officers at the aircraft hangar of a closed resort in Tannersville, some 30 miles (48 km) away from the barracks where he was accused of shooting Cpl Bryon Dickson.

Schools in the area were closed at times during the manhunt, and residents warned to stay indoors.

Police used dogs, thermal imaging technology and even a hot air balloon to scour the dense woodland in the north-east of the state of Pennsylvania.

Several items believed to be his were found by police in the woods - empty packs of Serbian cigarettes, an AK-47-style assault rifle and ammunition, and a journal that offered a chilling account of the ambush.

Mr Frein had been added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List and $175,000 (£107,000) was offered for information leading to his capture.