Yamiche Alcindor

USA TODAY

A massive manhunt was underway Saturday after two Pennsylvania state troopers were ambushed outside a police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pa., during a late-night shift change, leaving one dead and the other injured.State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said Cpl. Bryon Dickson died at the scene of the shooting while Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded.

Dickson, who became a law enforcement official in 2007, transferred to the Blooming Grove barracks a few months ago from Philadelphia, Noonan said. The commissioner described both men as young officers with families.

"Our troopers were leaving the barracks and were shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves," Noonan said. "It's a cowardly attack. It's an attack upon all of us in society and the people of Pennsylvania."

Authorities have canvassed wooded areas and residences around the scene of the shooting and think the possible shooter or shooters have left the immediate area, Noonan said. Police will, however, maintain a strong presence there.

Noonan gave few other details about the ongoing investigation and declined to say whether surveillance cameras may have recorded part of the attack.

The Scranton, Pa.,Times-Tribune, WNEP and the Associated Press identified Jeffrey Hudak, 48, as the person being questioned. However, WBRE and WYOU reported that Hudak is not considered a suspect.

"No one is in custody or under arrest," trooper Connie Devens, a spokeswoman for Troop R in Dunmore, Pa., told the AP. "Mr. Hudak is being questioned as a person of interest."

Hudak, who was located as police were searching for a suspect or suspects in the shooting, has not been charged with a crime, Devens told The Times-Tribune.

Saturday afternoon, Noonan stressed that authorities were talking to hundreds of people and that hundreds more would need to be questioned.



The troopers were shot at about 11 p.m. Friday at the barracks in the township of nearly 5,000 people, located about 35 miles east of Scranton. Authorities from across the region, including New York and New Jersey, descended on northeastern Pennsylvania to help locate the shooter or shooters. Nearby Lackawanna County dispatched its SWAT team, and helicopters were seen flying over the area.

"We can't say that the situation is completely in hand," Noonan said. "This has been an emotional night for all of us."

On Saturday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett released a statement on the tragedy. "Our prayers go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was killed in the line of duty Friday night," he said. "We are praying as well for the full recovery of his colleague who was injured in the incident. Every attack on an officer of the law is an attack on our state, our country and civilized society."

One trooper was leaving the barracks in Pike County and another had just arrived when shots were fired. Noonan said Douglass was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Scranton, where he was in stable condition.

Authorities did not have a description of the shooter or shooters but said they were following several leads. Noonan added that the attack seemed to be directed solely at state police.

Noonan also 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 Routes 402 and 6 and Interstate 84, were closed this morning.

Police are asking anyone with information to call 911 or the Honesdale state police barracks at 570-253-7126. There is a $20,000 reward being offered for information that leads to an arrest of the person or people responsible for the shooting.



A resident of the area told The Times-Tribune he heard shots at 11:30 p.m. near the barracks, which is located in a wooded area, surrounded by state game lands.

The paper also reported that this is the second fatal shooting of a state trooper in northeastern Pennsylvania in the past five years. In 2009, trooper Joshua Miller, of Pittston, Pa., was killed in the line of duty after a high-speed chase ended in a hail of gunfire in Monroe County.

Meanwhile, the search continues around Blooming Grove.

"I know a lot of people are wondering if the threat is resolved. It is not," Noonan said. "Pennsylvania State Police and law enforcement in general will not rest until this individual is apprehended."

Contributing: The Associated Press