Schools in Poconos closed for 3rd straight day amid manhunt in trooper killing

Schools in the Poconos are closed for the third-straight day amid the search for the gunman suspected of killing a Pennsylvania State Police trooper last week.

All schools in both the Pocono Mountain School District and Wallenpaupack Area School District have canceled classes for today. Monsignor McHugh School, a Catholic school in Cresco, is also closed again.

The school districts have been shut down since Wednesday, after authorities identified Eric M. Frein as the suspect in the shooting of Cpl. Bryon Dickson and Trooper Alex Douglass last Friday. Dickson was killed when a gunman opened fire in an ambush attack outside police barracks in Blooming Grove in Pike County; Douglass was critically wounded.

Frein has been placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, and scores of law enforcement officers have been searching Northeast Pennsylvania for the 31-year-old from Monroe County.

Officials said Thursday that Frein has connections across the mid-Atlantic, including in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, but they believe the "survivalist" remains in the Northeast Pennsylvania region. He is thought to be armed with a high-powered weapon.

Wallenpaupack officials said the school district has "maintained daily communications" with law enforcement and "will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis in our decision making process."

The Pocono Mountain district's website says schools are closed "due to ongoing safety concerns for all of our students with an armed and dangerous man still on the loose in the area."

Both school districts have postponed football games that were scheduled to take place tonight.

Frein is described as white, 6 feet 1 inch tall and 165 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. The FBI says he may have shaved his head on both sides and have long hair on top, and is known to be a heavy smoker.

Arrest warrants have been issued charging him with offenses that include homicide of a law enforcement officer, homicide, attempted murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

A total of $175,000 in reward money is being offered for Frein's capture.

Thousands of mourners gathered in Scranton on Thursday for Dickson's funeral.