Police in Pennsylvania say an active duty U.S. Army Captain committed suicide after allegedly shooting and killing four people across two states, leading to a manhunt as Hurricane Irene bore down on the east coast.
Leonard John Egland, a logistics officer in the Army from Fort Lee, Virginia, allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s 10-year old son in their home in Chesterfield County, Virginia on Saturday before driving north to suburban Philadelphia and allegedly killing his ex-wife’s mother before killing himself.
Lt. Randy Horowitz of the Chesterfield Police Department said Egland had been in the Army for 20 years, and had been deployed to Afghanistan and possibly Iraq, the Associated Press reports.
Police discovered the bodies of Egland’s ex-wife, her boyfriend and his child at around 1:00 AM Sunday morning after a welfare check at a home in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The body of his former mother-in-law was also found that night in Bucks County, PA, outside Philadelphia.
That same night, Egland took his six-year old daughter to a local hospital in Pennsylvania and tried to leave her with a nurse and note. After a confrontation, during which Egland flashed a gun at the nurse, Elgand left. The nurse called the police, who then began a search for him.
From the AP:
Around midnight, [Egland’s] vehicle was stopped by state and local police in Doylestown Township, Pa., Egland allegedly fired shots from a semi-automatic rifle, hitting a Doylestown officer in the arm, police said. A shot shattered a windshield, spraying glass in the face of another officer.
His body was later discovered in Bucks County, after an apparent suicide, along with a rifle, pistol and ammo, at around 3:40 PM on Sunday.
“I have no idea whether he’s acting on impulse or whether this storm played a part in his thinking,” said David Heckler, the D.A. in Bucks County, PA.
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