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Trooper shooting suspect leaves chillingly, handwritten notes in forest

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Pipe Bomb Left by Eric Frein

Suspected cop killer Eric Matthew Frein appears to have left handwritten notes in the Pennsylvania woods in which he chillingly describes his ambush of a state trooper last month, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said Wednesday.

“Friday September 12, got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it. He dropped … I took a follow up shot on his head, neck area. He was still and quiet after that. Another cop approached the one I just shot. As he went to kneel, I took a shot at him and he jumped in the door. His legs were visible and still,” the note reads, according to Bivens.

CNN first reported on the handwritten notes on Monday.

Frein, 31, is suspected in the September 12 ambush that left Cpl. Bryon Dickson dead and Trooper Alex T. Douglass wounded outside the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Blooming Grove.

Bivens said Frein faces two additional counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction after two booby trapped pipe bombs were discovered in the Pocono Mountains search area last week.

Eric Matthew Frein

Eric Matthew Frein

Authorities said a search of Frein’s bedroom turned up a variety of black and synthetic powders — material consistent with what was used to make the two pipe bombs. In the search of his bedroom, investigators also found galvanized steel pipes drilled out to accept fusing material, end caps, pyrotechnic fuse and improvised explosive initiators.

“The design is simple but very dangerous and could have caused significant injury to anyone in the vicinity of that explosive,” said Sam Rabadi, special agent in charge of ATF in Pennsylvania.

Pipe Bomb Left by Eric Frein

Bivens said the handwritten notes were discovered among items left behind at a campsite located by law enforcement agents on September 29.

After the shooting, Frein supposedly wrote, “I ran back to the jeep. I made maybe half a mile … and hit a road block. I didn’t expect one so soon. It was only 15 to 20 minutes.”

Bivens quoted the suspect as writing that he “did a k turn a quarter mile from them and pulled into a development I knew had unfinished access road. Hearing helos, I just used my marker lights, missed the trail around a runoff pool and drove straight into it. Disaster. Made half attempt to stash AK and ran.”

A massive search for Frein has been carried out since, at times involving as many as 1,000 officers. Despite recent sightings and other leads, he has eluded authorities. The manhunt has cost several million dollars, Bivens said.

Authorities have said that a review of a computer hard drive used by Frein shows that he had planned the attack for years.

Frein has been described as a survivalist and military reenactment enthusiast with a hatred for law enforcement, authorities say.