North CorosPennsylvania – A suspect armed with a rifle, hiding in the home of his ex-girlfriend, killed three of them in a gunfight in the rolling farmland and ambush police officers arrested him.
Two other officers were severely injured, and then police shot the suspect to death with gunfire, which closed for 15 hours as an off-road camera captured the suspect’s image, armed with a Type A-rifle and stared into range Tuesday night.
The ex-girlfriend and her mother called the police and then fled the house after dispatching police on Tuesday night, thinking they found him there. Police did not find him at their home, so they returned home Wednesday afternoon.
Six officers used drones to search the property, including agricultural buildings, and then they noticed that the door of the house was unlocked – even though the ex-girlfriend and her mother had locked it before they fled.
Four plainclothes detectives from the North York County North Regional Police Department opened the door in bulletproof vests and were immediately shot by the suspect, 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, who carried an arched rifle with York County District Attorney’s suppressor Tim Barker explain.
Barker He said he believed Ruth planned to ambush his ex-girlfriend before the detective walked in.
Ruth started many rounds, killed three officers at the door and seriously injured the fourth inning Barker explain. Then, a gunfight broke out between Ruth and two officers outside. Ruth Barker explain.
Detective Sergeant. He said Cody Becker, detectives Mark Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser were killed.
“Each of these people represents the best policing. They serve with professionalism, dedication and courage. They are leaders within our agency who are committed to protecting this community and standing next to their fellow countrymen,” said Chief Dave Lash.
All three killed officers are long-time veterans of the nearly 70-point unit and have nearly sixty years of combined service. Baker, 53, served for 21 years while serving as a police officer in Philadelphia. Becker, 39, has served for 16 years; Emenheiser, 43, has served for 20 years.
The injured detective and sheriff’s officers remained hospitalized, one of whom was in critical and stable condition Thursday.
When the ex-girlfriend’s pickup truck mysteriously caught fire one night in August, she suspected Ruth was behind, but she asked the police not to investigate, Barker explain.
Instead, she and her mother put off-road cameras, and nearly a month later they called the police while they found him wearing a disguise and staring at his pictures by something. Barker It is called an oscilloscope-like device.
The police searched for Ruth with a misdemeanor warrant.
Investigators went to Ruth’s home in Hannover, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the officer’s murder and spoke with relatives earlier Wednesday. Barker explain. He wasn’t there, so they left to try out their ex-girlfriend’s home.
Barker He said he could not immediately say how Ruth entered his ex-girlfriend’s house, but he said Ruth “carefully monitored the entire residence and attachment” and even shot and killed the black Labrador family after he entered the house.
Neighbor Rose Miller said detectives returned to Hanover after the shooting, leaving behind several bags of potential evidence. She didn’t know Ruth very well, but remembered that he worked in a Scout fundraiser.
On Thursday night, hundreds of people gathered at a vigil to commemorate the officers at a church in Springgrove, Pennsylvania, some wiped away tears as pastors led prayers and hymns, and a woman sang “amazing grace.” Community members wrote messages on the stones and arranged them under the table to showcase five lit candles.
“We need to do better,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday night. “We need to help those who think that picking up guns and picking up weapons is the answer to the dispute.”
It was one of the deadliest days of law enforcement in the state of the century, matching the 2009 shooting, when three officers were ambushed by domestic violence suspected of having bulletproof vests.
Community members held our flags and formed a parade to the coroner’s office as police and emergency vehicles, with people leaving flowers outside the killing officer’s headquarters.
Confrontation unfolds on a rural road North Corosabout 46 miles (75 km) north of Baltimore. Neighbor Dirk Anderson heard “quite a lot” of footage at his home across the street, wondering what was going on. Then he saw a helicopter and the police arrived.
A total of 30 police cars arrived, blocking the barn, a goat farm, soybeans and corn fields.
“Now walk along this road and see all these cars and know what’s going on here,” said Bryan Rice, who lives nearby and often walks up the road with his wife.
Barker Refusing to think about the “full image” of the gunman, but saying one thing is obvious.
“Although there is one motivation that is obvious. That’s the hateful scourge of domestic violence,” he said. “That’s what brought us here. That’s what brought law enforcement here.”
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Levy reported a report in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C.; Maryclaire Dale of Philadelphia; Kimberlee Kruesi of Providence, Rhode Island; Hallie Golden of Seattle; Audrey McAvoy of Honolulu contributed to the report.
