Three slain police officers are mourned after stalking suspect’s ‘brutal ambush’ in York County
The three men were killed when a suspected stalker opened fire in what the DA called a “brutal ambush.”
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.
“Each of these men represented the very best of policing — they served with professionalism, dedication, and courage,” said David Lash, chief of the Northern York County Regional Police Department.
Another police detective and a York County deputy were critically injured in the shooting but have not yet been publicly identified by officials. The alleged shooter, Matthew James Ruth, 24, was killed during the encounter.
“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.
About 15 minutes away in Hanover, where the alleged shooter’s last known address was, the sense of safety was similarly fractured. Ruth’s reported home sits on a tree-lined street full of manicured lawns and well-maintained houses, many already decorated for Halloween. By nightfall Wednesday, the neighborhood was filled with police cars.
People are friendly, but tend to mind their own business, said Kristen Hankewycz, who moved there about eight years ago. Hankewycz said she didn’t know Ruth, and she still feels safe — but maybe a bit more on edge.
“You always have to be cautious,” she said. “This is not a high-crime community, but you never know.”
Wednesday’s violence erupted about 2:10 p.m. after police arrived at a home on Harr Road in North Codorus Township. An ex-girlfriend of Ruth’s lived in the residence, officials said, and officers had gone there to arrest Ruth on charges with stalking and related offenses.
Ruth ambushed the officers from inside the home, firing at police with an AR-15-style rifle equipped with a suppressor, Barker said Thursday. Ruth began shooting at police as they attempted to enter the unlocked front door of the residence, officials said.
The ensuing gunfight lasted about two minutes, with Ruth killing three officers and injuring two others before police shot and killed him, officials said. Ruth also killed a dog that belonged to the family, which investigators later found in the basement, Barker said.
He called the shooting a “brutal ambush” on law enforcement, motivated by the “hateful scourge of domestic violence.”
The night before the shooting, on Tuesday, Ruth was seen loitering in the home’s driveway, according to an affidavit of probable cause. His ex-girlfriend’s mother, who owns the house where the shooting took place, had contacted police saying that she spotted a man wearing camouflage and peering into the home through a window with a pair of binoculars, court documents said.
Footage obtained from a trail camera on the property showed a man with an AR-15-style rifle slung across his chest, and the homeowner’s daughter told police it was Ruth, who she said had never visited the house before. The pair, the woman added, “only dated for a short time,” according to the affidavit.
The woman also told police that she suspected Ruth had set her pickup truck on fire as it sat in the home’s driveway in August. A fire investigator this week determined the blaze was intentional, court documents indicate.
Officers attempted but failed to locate Ruth on Tuesday, according to the affidavit. Ruth was charged with misdemeanor stalking, misdemeanor prowling at nighttime, and summary criminal trespass, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Officers were visiting the home Wednesday when they were ambushed.
The shooting marked one of Pennsylvania’s deadliest days for law enforcement in more than a decade. In 2009, three officers were killed in an ambush in Pittsburgh after a domestic violence suspect attacked them while wearing a bulletproof vest.
In York County, an officer was killed in February after a man took staff members of a hospital hostage, leading to a shootout.
Barker, the York County district attorney, said Thursday that he knew well the officers killed this week, calling them “wonderful” and “mission-driven.” Baker served for 21 years, while Emenheiser and Becker served for 20 years and 16 years respectively, officials said.
“You kept the faith, you ran the race, you fought more than a good fight, you fought the critical fight for us,” he said of them. “Job well done, mission well served.”
On Thursday afternoon, Scott Miller approached a pile of flowers and cards resting along Northern York County Regional Police Department’s headquarters. He said he is friends with one of the surviving officers.
“It’s heavy,” he said. “It brings people together, but not for a good reason.”
This article contains information from the Associated Press.