Does the viral image show "Matthew J. Ruth", the deceased suspect in the shooting that left three law enforcement officers dead in Pennsylvania on the night of September 17, 2025? No, that's not true: The images show a different person, who is still alive. That was confirmed to Lead Stories by the man himself and by police.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on September 19, 2025. It opened:
This is 24-year-old, Matthew J. Ruth, of Hanover, Pennsylvania who shot and killed three police officers and left two more wounded yesterday with an AR-15. Why is there hardly any coverage about this in the media or on this app?
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/TheMaineWonk)
The shared image, however, portrayed a different person who has the same first and last name as the shooter, but is still alive. On September 19, 2025, he replied to a Lead Stories request to comment via Facebook Messenger:
Yes that's a picture of me being circulated.
On September 19, 2025, trooper James T. Grothey, serving as a public information officer for Pennsylvania State Police, also told Lead Stories via email about the viral image from X:
The person pictured in the post was not involved in this incident. We will not be releasing a photo of the suspect.
On September 18, 2025, the authorities identified (archived here) the suspect believed to have killed three police officers as "24-year-old Matthew Ruth." Police had tried to serve an arrest warrant on stalking charges. York County District Attorney Tim Barker (archived here) told the press (archived here) that the suspect's middle name begins with J. and that "following the final exchange of fire," the man "became deceased".
