On September 17, 2025, a man opened fire on police officers serving an arrest warrant at a farm house in North Codorus Township, Pennsylvania, United States, killing three and injuring two others before being fatally shot by police.[2]
At around 2:10p.m. a man opened fire on police officers who were serving a court order at a farm house on Haar Road near Spring Grove; he used an AR-15–style rifle that had a suppressor.[3] This came after officers filed the affidavit and requested a warrant be issued for the arrest of the suspect on stalking, loitering and prowling at night, and criminal trespass charges. A resident said he heard about 30 shots and saw someone lying on the ground while officers seemed to be searching for someone inside of a barn.[4][5][6] Authorities described the shooting as domestic-related.[7] Following the standoff, a shelter-in-place warning was issued until a few hours after the shooting.[8] Police kept people away from the scene, with about 30 police vehicles blocking off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields.[9]
Victims
Three officers from the Northern York Regional Police Department – Detective Sergeant Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker, and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser – were killed in the ambush. Another Northern York Regional Police Department detective and a deputy from the York County Sheriff's Office were injured.[3] The injured officers are in critical but stable condition. At least one officer was evacuated by air medical services. The perpetrator was fatally shot by the police.[6]
Perpetrator
A law enforcement official identified the perpetrator as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth (August 2, 2001 – September 17, 2025) of Hanover, Pennsylvania.[10] Ruth lived in the Hanover area throughout his entire life, and resided in neighboring Penn Township at the time of the shooting.[11]
In an affidavit of probable cause, officers wrote that they were called to the North Codorus Township home on the night of the shooting, for a resident reporting a white male was on a female victim's property and was looking into the residence's window with binoculars.[12] Officers from the Northern York County Regional Police Department immediately advised that the resident could see the man from a short distance, who she said was wearing camouflage, standing in the driveway of the home, according to the affidavit.[13] Northern York officers responded to the home, and were unable to locate the man, but managed to find a black 2000 Ford Ranger parked along the road near a line of the woods.[14] Investigators spoke with the resident's daughter, who told them in a September 11 interview that, on August 20, an unidentified individual set her pick-up truck on fire while the vehicle sat in the home's driveway, but police say the woman who made the complaint later identified that man as Ruth, her ex-boyfriend. Documents also confirmed that a fire investigator responded to the residence on September 13, and determined the fire was intentionally set by Ruth.[15]
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