Prosecutor says stalking suspect ambushed Pennsylvania police officers, killing 3

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NORTH CODORUS, Pa. (AP) — A suspected stalker armed with a rifle hid at his ex-girlfriend's home in the rolling farmland of southern Pennsylvania and ambushed police officers who came to arrest him, killing three of them, a prosecutor said Thursday

Police arriving at the scene at about 2:10 p.m. Wednesday noticed the door to the home was unlocked even though the ex-girlfriend and her mother had locked it before leaving the property for their safety.

They opened the door and were immediately fired upon by the suspect, 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, who was carrying an AR-style rifle with a suppressor, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said.

He said the suspect fired multiple rounds at the four officers at the door, killing three of them. A gunfight then ensued between Ruth and two officers outside. Ruth wounded a sheriff's deputy before police shot the gunman to death, Barker said.

Detective Sgt. Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser were the officers who were killed, he said. They all worked for the Northern York County Regional Police Department.

“Each of these men represented the best of policing. They served with professionalism, dedication and courage. They were leaders within our agency, committed to protecting this community and standing beside their follow officers,” Chief Dave Lash said of the three slain Northern York Regional police officers.

One of the wounded officers also belongs to the Northern York department. Authorities have not identified the department affiliation of the second officer who was hospitalized.

Investigators later found the ex-girlfriend's dog had been shot dead in the basement.

Neighboring departments stepped in Thursday to help shoulder the workload as agency personnel grieved.

The violence erupted Wednesday afternoon as officers sought Ruth, who they believed had been at the property the night before. A woman he had briefly dated lived there. Her mother called police late Tuesday after she spotted a man wearing camouflage looking into the home with binoculars.

Officers also spoke with the daughter, who had a photo from a trail camera showing someone carrying a rifle outside and aiming a scope at the house, according to a police affidavit.

Ruth eluded police that night, leading them to return the next day with misdemeanor warrants for his arrest. The young woman's car had been set on fire in August and she said she suspected he may have been involved.

Investigators twice visited Ruth's home in Hanover, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from where the officers were killed, neighbor Rose Miller said. They first arrived at about noon, she said, and then again at about 5 p.m. They left around midnight with bags of potential evidence.

Miller didn’t know Ruth well, but remembered him working on Boy Scout fundraisers. No one answered the door at the home on Thursday.

“We need to do better as a society,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday evening. “We need to help the people who think that picking up a gun, picking up a weapon is the answer to resolving disputes.”

It was one of the state’s deadliest days for law enforcement this century, matching the toll from a day in 2009 when three officers were ambushed by a domestic violence suspect sporting a bulletproof vest.

As news of the tragedy spread, community members held American flags and saluted as police and emergency vehicles formed a procession to the coroner’s office. Police departments across the region mourned on social media, while people left flowers outside the slain officers' headquarters.

The confrontation unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania, not far from Maryland. Neighbor Dirk Anderson heard “quite a few” shots from his home across the street and wondered what was happening. Then he saw a helicopter and police arrive.

Some 30 police vehicles blocked off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields. The area, North Codorus, is about 46 miles (75 km) north of Baltimore.

“It’s strange walking down this road now and seeing all these cars and knowing what happened here,” said Bryan Rice, who lives nearby and regularly walks the road with his wife. He said he was still reeling Thursday from the news.

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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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C.; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.