Trail cam shows man with AR-15 at Pennsylvania farm day before deadly police shooting, court docs say
Court documents reveal new details about what happened at a Pennsylvania farm the day before a shooting left three police officers and a suspect dead, and two other officers critically wounded. Note: The documents do not discuss Wednesday’s shooting. They detail events that happened at the property in North Codorus Township on Tuesday. Docs: Trail camera video, AR-15 rifleAccording to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called to the farm after a woman called them saying there was a "male on her property with binoculars looking into the residence through a window."The woman told police the person was wearing camouflage and she could see him through a trail camera standing in her driveway, according to investigators. An officer who went to the farm did not find the person, but did find a black 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck parked along the road near a line of woods. The woman who initially called told police she thought the person on the property may have arrived in a black pickup.Docs: Vehicle set on fireAfter finding the pickup, the officer spoke to a mother and daughter on the farm. The daughter said on Aug. 20, someone had set her pickup truck on fire while it was in the driveway, according to the affidavit."She advised at the time she suspected her ex-boyfriend was the culprit, but she wasn’t sure and requested the matter not be investigated," the affidavit states. The mother then showed the officer a still photo from her trail camera that showed the person wearing all camo, standing behind her daughter’s truck, according to the document."The male is looking through a scope device with it pointed towards the residence. At that time (the daughter) identified the male in the photo as her ex-boyfriend Matthew Ruth," the affidavit states. "(The daughter) advised they only dated for a short period of time and that Ruth had never been to her house, nor had he ever been invited there."The affidavit goes on to state that as other officers looked at the trail cam photograph, they noticed Ruth "also had an AR-15 style rifle slung across his chest while looking into the residence."Police looked for Ruth for several hours but did not find him.Police then filed the affidavit and requested a warrant be issued for the arrest of Ruth on charges of stalking, loitering and prowling at night and criminal trespass.Police have not identified Ruth as the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting.
