Man suspected of killing three police officers in Pa. was stalking ex-girlfriend the evening before

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NORTH CODORUS, Pa. (AP) — The man who fatally shot three Pennsylvania officers and injured two before he was killed by police has been identified as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, according to a law enforcement official.

The officers were killed Wednesday while following up on a domestic-related investigation that began on Tuesday. Two more officers were wounded in the shooting and police killed the gunman.

https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-shooting-officers-killed-wounded-f3872f254eeb60ec9cfe1dbc4d0ce695


Matthew James Ruth, 24, of Hanover, was charged earlier on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, with misdemeanor stalking, misdemeanor prowling at nighttime, and summary criminal trespass in North Codorus Township.

In an affidavit of probable cause, officers wrote that they were called to the home in the 1800 block of Haar Road in North Codorus Township around 11:24 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, for a resident reporting a male was on her property and was looking into the residence with binoculars.

Officers were advised that the resident could see the man, who she said was wearing camouflage, standing in the driveway of the home, according to the affidavit.
Investigators carry evidence markers at the scene where five police officers were shot on the 1800 block of Haar Road, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in North Codorus Township. Three officers passed away from their injuries, and two were critically wounded, according to officials.

Investigators spoke with the resident's daughter, who told them that on Aug. 20, 2025, unknown persons set her pick-up truck on fire while it was sitting in the home's driveway, according to the affidavit.

Investigators were provided with photographs captured on a trail camera at the residence on Tuesday night, which they state show Ruth allegedly peering towards the home with "a scope device."

In the documents, officers noted that in the images captured on Tuesday night, Ruth "had an AR-15 style rifle slung across the chest while looking into the residence."

https://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2025/09/18/hanover-pa-home-searched-after-officers-killed-in-north-codorus/86212541007/


June 21, 2024
Supreme Court upholds federal ban on guns for domestic abusers
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/23/1252764853/supreme-court-guns

March 2025
Trump Administration Prepares to Give Gun
Rights Back to Some Convicts
After Justice Department officials sought to allow convicted domestic abuser Mel Gibson to own a gun again, the administration is proposing a path for some people to have their firearms access restored.



Domestic abusers could have easier path to getting gun rights back under Trump proposal
https://19thnews.org/2025/06/trump-proposal-domestic-abusers-gun-access/

[malaise]

1. Wrong link

This is the one you need

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/09/trump-domestic-violence

Speaking at a Christian museum on Monday, Donald Trump claimed, falsely, that his deployment of national guard troops to invade the nation’s capital has eliminated crime in Washington. He complained, however, that domestic violence was being counted in the crime statistics, which he claimed meant that the influence of his policy was not being seen as significant enough. “They said, ‘Crime’s down 87%,’” the president claimed, not explaining who “they” were. “I said, no, no, no. It’s more than 87%, virtually nothing. And much lesser things, things that take place in the home they call crime. You know, they’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime. See? So now I can’t claim 100%, but we are. We are a safe city.”

If Trump wanted to endorse domestic violence decriminalization, he may take some comfort in the status quo: as it is, about 24% of adult American women have been the victims of “severe physical violence” by an intimate partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline; the Centers for Disease Control, meanwhile, puts the proportion of women who have experienced “contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner” at 41%. and many of those incidents are not reported or not prosecuted – meaning that the perpetrators are free, and that their assaults have not been treated as fully “criminal”.

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2. another good one

...thanks.

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4. Over half of the women murdered in the United States are killed by a current or former intimate partner.

Over half of the women murdered in the United States are killed by a current or former intimate partner.

FBI:

Over half of the women murdered in the United States are killed by a current or former intimate partner. The presence of firearms significantly escalates the danger in relationships where there is domestic violence by increasing the risk of homicide by 500%.

2025 National Resource Center for Domestic Violence and Firearms
https://nrcdvf.org/

[malaise]

6. And I have no doubt that he was going to kill her and her mother

So let them talk about crime.

[bigtree]

7. exactly

...and in who's hands should guns be allowed.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

5. Kick

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8. Where did you get that photo? That's not the killer, that's an innocent man.

Fact Check: Photos Do NOT Show 'Matthew J. Ruth', Suspected Shooter Of Three Police Officers Killed in Pennsylvania

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/09/fact-check-photos-do-not-show-matthew-j-ruth-suspected-shooter-of-three-police-officers-killed-in-pennsylvania.html