3 Dead, 2 Injured in Rural Pa. Police Shooting

Safety at Work

North Codorus, PA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Three police officers are dead after an armed man in camouflage lurking in the nearby cornfield opened fire on them.

Two other officers were injured in the shooting neighbors to the incident’s location called “a war zone.”

Police in York County, Penn., said the officers were responding to a “domestic-related” investigation when they were fired on by Matthew James Ruth, 24, of Hanover, Pa. Officials said that when the officers approached the farmhouse on Wednesday afternoon to serve a warrant, the shooter was waiting for them.

Officials said Ruth had allegedly been stalking the woman who lived in the house near where the shooting took place. The woman, who was not identified, said she’d only dated the man for a short time, and never told him where she lived, but that he’d been following and harassing her for weeks.

In late August, a truck outside of her home caught fire, but she asked police not to investigate the incident out of fear. On Sept. 16, just before midnight, the woman’s mother called police after a man she suspected was Ruth was seen on a trail cam the family had set up outside of the woman’s home, Pennsylvania State Police said. The man could be seen in the trail cam video with an AR-15 strapped to his chest, watching the house with binoculars, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said.

Police with the Northern York County Regional Police Department and York County Sheriff’s Department deputies searched the area on foot and with a drone but found no one.

“Despite searching over the next several hours, a warrant was sworn out for (Ruth’s) arrest,” Barker said.

When officers returned to the farmhouse on Wednesday afternoon to serve a warrant, they searched the area again using drones. According to court documents, Ruth was facing charges of stalking, loitering and prowling at nighttime and criminal trespass on the day of the shooting.

But this time, Ruth was wearing camouflage and hiding in the cornfield.

When police approached the front door of the home, they found it unlocked. And they entered the home, they were fired upon. Officials identified the officers as Detective Sgt. Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser of the Northern York County Regional Police Department.

“Upon (the officers) immediately opening the door, (Ruth) repeatedly fired at the officers with multiple rounds from an AR-15 style rifle,” Barker said Thursday. Becker, Baker and Emenheiser were killed.

Dave Miller, a neighbor, told CNN. “It seemed like a war zone, sounded like a war zone.”

Miller said he saw more than a dozen police officers searching for someone in a barn. An officer advised him to keep moving. When he was just a few hundred feet from the farm, the gunshots rang out.

“Then I saw a body on the road,” Miller said. “I pretty much saw it hit, hit the ground.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, called the shooting "absolutely tragic and devastating day" for the county and the state.

"Grieve for the loss of life and three precious souls who served this county," he said. "And we continue to pray for the full recovery of those who were dealing with their wounds. This kind of violence isn't okay. We need to do better as a society."

The shooter was not publicly named by police, but two state law enforcement officials identified him to CNN as Ruth. Court documents in York County show Ruth was facing charges of stalking, loitering and prowling at nighttime and criminal trespass on the day of the shooting.

Miller had been on his way home when he saw more than a dozen police searching for someone in a barn, he said. An officer launching a drone near the road advised Miller to keep moving, the neighbor told CNN. When he was just a few hundred feet from the scene, the gunfire started.

One of the two officers injured in the shootout was able to return fire and kill Ruth. Both of the injured officers were taken to a nearby hospital, officials said, and one was still hospitalized on Thursday, the Northern York County Regional Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.

“We ask our community to keep these officers, their families, and their colleagues in your thoughts and prayers during this time of unimaginable grief,” the department said.

The shooting was just a few months after an officer was killed during a shootout with a man holding York County hospital staff members hostage. The attacker was killed in that incident also.

According to FBI statistics released last month, law enforcement officers faced a record number of assaults in 2024. According to the report, there were 85,730 reported assaults on officers in 2024, up from 83,000 in 2023. In 2015, the number was significantly lower with only 52,448 reported assaults.

Between 2021 and 2024, there were 258 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, including 64 last year, the report said.

Share This Article: