Story highlights
NEW: Pennsylvania trooper is conscious after being shot
$75,000 reward offered
.308-caliber rifle believed used in Friday's shootings
Lt. Col. George Bivens has a message for whoever ambushed two Pennsylvania State Police troopers last week: “We will find you.”
The Friday night shooting outside police barracks in Blooming Grove killed one trooper and seriously wounded another.
Authorities are offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to the suspect or suspects, Bivens said.
Police have released few details about the shooting, saying they want to keep most of the information they’ve deduced so far from evidence quiet.
“Only the coward that committed this act knows that information, and we will use that to find him or her,” Bivens said.
The assailant used a .308-caliber rifle, Bivens said, and could be an avid hunter of someone with formal firearms training.
“Clearly, they practiced with this rifle to maintain proficiency,” he said, adding that the suspect may have been practicing at a shooting range.
And it’s possible the shooter had “an ongoing issue with law enforcement or the government” and “suffered some level of crisis in his life,” Bivens said.
The FBI is assisting, he said, and investigators are working around the clock to track down the suspect.
But there’s one key person they haven’t had a chance yet to speak with: the trooper who survived the shooting.
Trooper Alex T. Douglass is conscious and speaking for the first time since undergoing surgery after the shooting, police said. But authorities haven’t interviewed him.
“First and foremost is our concern for his health and recovery. So we’re letting the doctors do what they need to do, and at an appropriate time that will occur. We expect that to happen in the very near future,” Bivens said.
The trooper is improving daily. “He was very seriously wounded and he’s going to have a long road to recover,” he said.
The shooting happened at 10:50 p.m. Friday in a rural, wooded area. Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson was killed in the attack.
Police from New York, New Jersey and throughout the Northeast are assisting in the search for suspects, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said.
Police have received hundreds of tips in the case and are aggressively pursuing each one, Bivens said.
“We are determined…and we will solve this,” Bivens said. “We’ve all been through any number of complex investigations. They take time. I know we’ve assembled the A team here. They will absolutely work through this investigation, and I’m confident we’ll make an arrest.”
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CNN’s Joshua Berlinger, Mayra Cuevas, Ed Payne, Joe Sutton and Carma Hassan contributed to this report