3 officers killed in York County shooting are identified; gunman opened fire from inside home, officials say

NORTH CODORUS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — All was quiet the morning after a deadly York County shooting in which three police officers were killed, the only noise coming from the drone of crickets chirping in a cornfield across from the North Codorus home where the tragedy occurred.

Bloodstains, however, remained on the pavement of the rural two-lane road where chaos had erupted Wednesday afternoon, and reporters gathered around what appeared to be a bullet fragment left behind from the ambush by the suspect in a stalking case police were preparing to arrest.

Killed in the shooting were Detective Sgt. Cody Becker, 39; Detective Mark Baker, 53; and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser, 43, York County District Attorney Timothy Barker said at a news conference Thursday. Baker previously worked for the Philadelphia Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The fallen York County officers were described by officials as exemplary policemen.

Det. Sgt. Cody Becker, Det. Mark Baker, and Det. Isaiah Emenheiser were leaders in the Northern York County Regional Police Department, committed to protecting their south-central Pennsylvania community, according to police Chief David Lash.

“Each of these men represented the very best of policing — they served with professionalism, dedication, and courage,” Lash said at a Thursday news conference.

The shooter opened fire on law-enforcement officers from inside a York County home, officials said at a news conference Thursday afternoon — contradicting earlier reports that the gunman laid in wait in a nearby cornfield.

The accused shooter, Matthew James Ruth, 24, of Hanover, Pa., fired an AR-15-style rifle from inside the Haar Road home of his ex-girlfriend, killing three detectives — Det. Sgt. Cody Becker, Det. Mark Baker, and Det. Isaiah Emenheiser — as they attempted to enter the unlocked front door of the residence, according to York County District Attorney Timothy Barker.

The barrage of gunfire rang out for about two minutes, critically injuring a deputy sheriff and another York County detective who have not been identified as of Thursday afternoon.

The night before three York County police officers were shot and killed outside a North Codorus Township, the suspected gunman was spotted loitering in the driveway, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police arrived at the home Tuesday night around 11:30 p.m. after the owner spotted a man wearing camouflage with binoculars looking through her window, according to the court documents.

Officers said they saw an AR-15 style rifle slung across the man’s chest in photos obtained from a trail camera. The homeowner's daughter confirmed to police it was Matthew James Ruth, a former boyfriend she “only dated for a short period of time” who had never visited their house.

The alleged shooter’s last known address was in a suburb of Hanover, on the southern edge of Pennsylvania — 15 minutes from where the officers were killed.

The house where Matthew James Ruth reportedly lived sits on a tree-lined street full of well-manicured lawns and other well maintained houses, many already decorated for Halloween.

It’s a quiet neighborhood, where people are friendly, but tend to mind their own business, said Kristen Hankewycz, who moved here about eight years ago.

Matthew James Ruth, 24, of Hanover, Pa. has been identified as the suspect in the shooting deaths of three York County police officers, according to the Associated Press, citing an unnamed law enforcement official.

Police have not yet publicly identified the gunman.

Ruth was shot and killed by police during the ambush outside a North Codorus Township home Wednesday. Two other police officers were wounded and were in critical but stable condition.

It was quiet Thursday morning outside a North Codorus Township home where just yesterday three police officers were shot and killed.

The only noises were crickets chirping in a cornfield and a TV reporter doing a live standup near a cornfield.

The shooting happened along a two-lane country road in rural York County, where bloodstains remain on the pavement.

Three York County police officers are dead and two others are seriously injured following a shooting Wednesday afternoon in North Codorus Township, officials said.

The incident unfolded just after 2 p.m. on Haar Road, where police were following up on a “domestic-related” investigation, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said at a news conference Wednesday. The township is about 115 miles west of Philadelphia in south-central Pennsylvania.

The suspect involved in the shooting died after being shot by police, and there is no active threat to the community, Paris added.

In a statement, Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society.” She said federal agents were on the scene to support local officers.

“The grief will be unbearable but we will bear it,” Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said of the shooting. “We will not rest until we conduct a full fair and competent investigation into this matter.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro previously traveled to York County following the shooting death of West York Borough Police Department Officer Andrew Duarte in April. Violence like this, he said, is “not okay.”