Matthew James Ruth wanted to target his ex-girlfriend? Shooter's action in Pennsylvania shooting under radar

A gunman who killed three police officers and injured two others in rural southern Pennsylvania before being shot dead by police has been identified. While police have not publicly released his name, two state law enforcement officials told CNN the suspect was 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth. The shooter has been identified as a 24-year-old man, Matthew James Ruth. He was also wanted on stalking charges, authorities said Thursday.

Matthew James Ruth was also facing charges of trespassing, loitering and prowling at night in a domestic-related case that began a day before the deadly violence, according to court records. The confrontation erupted Wednesday in York County as officers closed in on Ruth near his family's farm outside Hanover.

Investigators have not released details of the domestic dispute that led officers to seek Ruth, but officials said more information would be made public later Thursday. The two injured officers remained hospitalized in stable condition.


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Court records from York County, where the shooting took place, reveal that Ruth was facing multiple charges at the time of the incident, including stalking, loitering and prowling at night, and criminal trespass. He was identified as the ex-boyfriend of the woman living in the farmhouse that deputies approached Wednesday afternoon to serve an arrest warrant.

The warrant had been issued after the woman reported seeing Ruth stalking the property the previous day. Officers had attempted to serve the order on Tuesday but were unable to locate him, prompting them to return to the farmhouse the following afternoon.

When they arrived the next day, investigators said Ruth appeared to be lying in wait. He was reportedly dressed in camouflage, though it is unclear if he had been specifically targeting his former girlfriend.

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What we know about Matthew James Ruth

Neighbors said the normally quiet farming community was overwhelmed by a heavy law enforcement presence. Rose Miller, who lives just a few houses away, recalled that investigators first arrived around noon Wednesday and returned later that afternoon.

Miller said she did not know Ruth personally, though she remembered him selling items for Boy Scouts fundraisers. According to her, officers carried several bags of evidence out of the home before leaving shortly after midnight. By Thursday, no one answered the door at the Ruth residence.

A law enforcement official, who confirmed Ruth's identity as the shooting suspect, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

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The killings sent shockwaves through York County and across Pennsylvania, leaving families of the officers and their communities grappling with grief. Gov. Josh Shapiro called the incident a grim reminder of the dangers law enforcement face.

"We need to do better as a society," Shapiro said. "We need to help the people who think that picking up a gun, picking up a weapon is the answer to resolving disputes."

The deadly standoff was one of the worst attacks on Pennsylvania law enforcement in recent memory, matching the toll from a 2009 ambush in which three officers were killed by a domestic violence suspect wearing a bulletproof vest. Attorney General Pamela Bondi condemned the killings, calling violence against police "a scourge on our society."