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Parents of gunman settle suit over police barracks ambush

SCRANTON, Pa. — The parents of a gunman who killed a Pennsylvania state trooper and permanently disabled another eight years ago in an ambush of a police barracks have settled a lawsuit that accused them of partial responsibility for the attack.

Tiffany Dickson, widow of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, and Trooper Alex Douglass had alleged in separate lawsuits, later consolidated, that Eugene and Deborah Frein knew their son Eric was mentally unstable and dangerous but allowed him access to weapons and imbued him with a hatred for law enforcement.

The Freins had vehemently rejected the idea that they were responsible. They were never charged, and none of their weapons were used in the September 2014 ambush outside the Blooming Grove barracks. Their attorney recently moved to dismiss the suit, saying there was no evidence they knew their son was a danger.

A Lackawanna County judge was to hear arguments on the motion Oct. 31, but court documents indicate that he was advised that the case had been settled, the (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens' Voice reported.

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