Pennsylvania state trooper shot in 2014 undergoes leg amputation
SCRANTON — A Pennsylvania state police trooper who was shot in a 2014 ambush by Eric Frein has had his right leg amputated below the knee.
Trooper Alex Douglass underwent the surgery this week at a New York City hospital.
He was wounded when Frein opened fire at the Blooming Grove barracks in September 2014. Cpl. Bryon Dickson II was killed.
Douglass' friend Earl Granville said there were medical complications that prompted Douglass to have his leg amputated and improve his quality of life.
“As an athlete, it will be better for him in the long run,” Granville said. “This will give him an opportunity to do what he loves again.”
Granvillle, a veteran who lost his leg in 2008 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, said he and Douglass completed the New York City Marathon handcycle event last month. An acquaintance connected the two men, who are both from Scranton, when Douglass expressed interest in doing a marathon. Granville has completed several since being wounded. Granville said he and Douglass completed the New York City Marathon handcycle event in 2015.
Douglass also has run marathons. Granville said he knows his friend would love to do so again and should be able to with a prosthetic.
He said Douglass was in great spirits after surgery.
“His attitude has been phenomenal. It's something we could all admire,” Granville said.
After shooting the troopers, Frein led authorities on a 48-day manhunt through the Pocono Mountains before U.S. marshals caught him at an abandoned airplane hangar. He was convicted in 2017 and is on death row.