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The man who gunned down three detectives in central Pennsylvania had been wanted for allegedly stalking a former girlfriend and had broken into her house before ambushing the lawmen, authorities said Thursday.
Law enforcement officers had been on the lookout for 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth in hopes of arresting him for alleged stalking, prowling and trespassing, according to a criminal complaint filed on Wednesday.
“Matthew J. Ruth is the actor” who fatally shot officers, York County DA Tim Barker told reporters on Thursday, vowing to never mention Ruth’s name again.
The three fallen policemen were identified as Detective-Sgt. Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker and Detective Isaiah Emehhesier, Barker said.
The prosecutor called this a result of “the hateful scourge of domestic violence.”
“That is what brought us here, that is what brought law enforcement here, that is what started all the activity,” Barker said.
Police were called late Tuesday night after a man in camouflage was spotted looking through a home’s windows with binoculars on Haar Road in North Codorus Township, which is about 110 miles west of central Philadelphia, the complaint said.
Trail cameras in the area spotted that prowler in camouflage and that home’s resident, Julia Zumbrum, identified him as Ruth, who she had once dated, police said.
Back on Aug. 20, Zumbrum’s pickup truck was set on fire and she “suspected her ex-boyfriend was the culprit,” police said.
In still images, believed to be Ruth and taken from trail cameras, the man “had an AR-15 style rifle slung across his chest,” according to the complaint.
Ruth and the former girlfriend had “only dated for a short period of time and Ruth had never been to her house, nor had he ever been invited there,” the complaint said.
Law enforcement went back to Zumbrum’s home on Thursday and the front door was unlocked, Barker said. The unlocked door signaled that an intruder was inside because Zumbrum and her mother locked the door on their way out of the house for their own safety, the prosecutor said.
Had the former girlfriend and her mother returned home before police, they would have been the slain victims, officials said. The family’s dog, a black labrador retriever, was also killed by Ruth.
“We have two lives of the residents there that are saved today,” Barker said. “Had they arrived home and not Northern Regional Police Department officers, they would have been killed immediately by the actor. Again, that is not speculation. That is the absolute only reasonable inference from all actions.”
In addition to the three slain men, two more law enforcement officers were critically wounded, police said.
The gunman was fatally shot by police, officials said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Senior Breaking News Reporter
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