The authorities on Thursday identified the man who they say shot five officers, killing three, in a rural part of York County, Pa., the day before.
The officers had been trying to serve a warrant to the man, Matthew J. Ruth, 24, when the shooting took place a little after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, on a quiet country road a couple of miles outside of Hanover, Pa.
Mr. Ruth was fatally shot by the police. Officials identified the three officers killed as Cody Becker, Isaiah Emenheiser and Mark Baker. The two officers who were injured in the shooting were in critical but stable condition at an area hospital, officials said Wednesday.
It was “a dark and heartbreaking day,” the police department for Northern York County said in a statement, adding that all three of the officers who died had been working for the department, along with one of the two who were injured.
Court documents show that on Tuesday night, officers responded to a call from a woman who said that a man had been using binoculars to peer into her home on Haar Road in the township of North Codorus, which is just outside Hanover. The woman was with her daughter, who identified the man as Mr. Ruth and told the police that she had once dated him and suspected him of setting her truck on fire last month, according to an affidavit.
Officers did not encounter Mr. Ruth on Tuesday night but determined from a trail camera photograph that he had been carrying an AR-15-style rifle, the affidavit said.
The deaths of the officers brought back painful memories for residents of York County. Just seven months earlier, Andrew Duarte, a 30-year-old police officer in the county, was shot and killed after he responded to a hostage situation in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he had met with families of the officers who were injured. He also mentioned Officer Duarte.
“It’s an extraordinary thing that these law enforcement families do,” the governor said. “They support the individual who puts on the uniform and runs toward danger.”
Studies of police responses have found that domestic violence-related calls, like the one that led to the charges against Mr. Ruth, are among the most dangerous situations officers face. A federal report from 2017 found that “calls related to domestic disputes and domestic related incidents” were responsible for the highest number of officer fatalities of any category of police calls.
The police department for Northern York County said on Thursday that it had closed its administrative offices and was getting help from other departments, as well as the state police.
David DeKok contributed reporting from York County, Pa.
Sonia A. Rao reports on disability issues as a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics across the country.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York.
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