Officials in York County have identified the three officers killed in Wednesday’s deadly shootout involving law enforcement and a man being sought on stalking charges.
Detective Sgt. Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser were all part of the Northern York County Regional Police Department.
Officials say an investigation into the suspect began a day before the deadly shootout
Police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth. An investigation into Ruth began Tuesday, after police received a report of him using a pair of binoculars to look into his ex-girlfriend’s home, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said.
Police were also told that in August, the ex-girlfriend’s truck was set ablaze in her driveway, and Ruth was suspected of being behind it.
“She stated that they dated for only a short period of time and that the actor had never been to her house nor had ever been invited there,” Barker said.
Officers ambushed
On Wednesday, Barker said detectives arrived at Ruth’s residence with a warrant on stalking charges and interviewed family members.
Less than an hour later, they went to his ex-girlfriend’s house, where Ruth was already hiding out inside. As the detectives entered the unlocked home, Ruth began firing at them with an AR-15-style rifle, killing the three detectives. The shootout continued onto the rural roadway, where Ruth was shot and killed by other responding law enforcement, Barker said.
“We have two lives of the residents there that are saved today,” he said. “Because make no mistake about it, and this I can conclude by all reasonable inferences from all information without speculation, had they arrived home and not Northern Regional Police Department officers arrived, they would have been killed immediately by [Ruth].”
Barker thanked law enforcement for their quick response to the scene, especially the officer who “fired the last shot” and administered aid to his colleagues.
“I can’t imagine the strength and the fortitude that it takes to immediately — after having seen and been engaged in that and going down to see what you observe — to be immediately thinking of rendering critical aid and engaging in lifesaving action,” Barker said. “He saved many lives that day.”
Police also discovered Ruth had killed his ex-girlfriend’s black Labrador.
It was one of the state’s deadliest days for law enforcement this century, matching a 2009 incident when three officers were ambushed by a domestic violence suspect wearing a bulletproof vest.
Another officer was killed in York County in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left both the man and an officer dead.
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