State police Commissioner Frank Noonan, addresses the media on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014 in Blooming Grove, Pa. Two troopers were ambushed outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania during a late-night shift change, leaving one dead and another injured, and authorities were searching Saturday for the suspect or suspects, state police said.BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. – With the deadly ambush on a state police barracks in the Pocono Mountains, law enforcement in eastern Pennsylvania went on high alert and officers from throughout the region, including New York and New Jersey, joined in a massive search for the shooter or shooters.
But after scouring dense woods on foot and by helicopter Saturday, authorities suspected the assailant had left the area. They had no one in custody as midnight neared, a state police spokesman said.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said the attack Friday night that left one trooper dead and another critically wounded was directed at state police and a “very dangerous, armed criminal” eluded quick capture.
“This attack was an ambush. Our troopers were … shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves,” Noonan told reporters Saturday afternoon. “It’s a cowardly attack. It’s an attack upon all of us in society.”
Law enforcement officers searched state game lands surrounding the barracks in Blooming Grove, in Pike County, and beyond Saturday. Several roads around the barracks, including parts of Interstate 84, were closed.