September 12, 2015
Pennsylvania State Police /AP
Cpl. Byron Dickson. Dickson was killed as he left the barracks in Blooming Grove, Pennsylvania on September 12, 2014.
The family of the Pennsylvania State trooper slain in an ambush outside the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County, Pennsylvania, reflected Saturday one year after the incident that set off a 48-day manhunt in search of suspect Eric Frein.
Corporal Byron Dickson II and State Trooper Alex Douglass were both struck in the sniper attack on September 12, 2014. Dickson died of his injuries while Douglass, who has undergone 16 surgeries in an effort to again walk under his own power, has said he hopes to rejoin the force.
In May, Dickson's family said that they had forgiven their son's alleged killer, Eric Frein, a survivalist and former war reenactor with anti-government leanings.
Approaching the anniversary of the shooting, Dickson's father told NBC 10 that that family is holding its own, but that it is difficult to handle at this time of year.
"Every night when I go to work I say I love you," Dickson said, addressing his departed son, a husband and father of two. "We miss you."
Frein was captured on October 30, 2014, at an abandoned airplane hangar after hundreds of police officers scoured the Poconos for 7 weeks. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and terrorism, for which prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
A date for Frein's trial has not been set, but it is expected to begin in 2016.
