RED LION, Pa. (AP) — On Thursday, a large gathering of police officers came together to pay tribute and escort the remains of three fallen detectives from Pennsylvania. These detectives were shot and killed last week by a man who had been inside the house of a woman he allegedly stalked.
Mourners congregated outside Living Word Community Church in Red Lion before the services were set to begin at noon. A procession transported the flag-covered caskets of Northern York County Regional Police detectives Cody Michael Becker, Mark Edward Baker, and Isaiah Emenheiser from a funeral parlor. Following the hearses were riderless horses.
While the event is closed to the public, the church is streaming the service online. This marks the second occasion this year that the church has hosted memorials for officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Autopsy results released this week indicated that all three officers died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Prosecutors stated that the suspect, 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, fired upon the officers as they entered the woman’s residence. The attack resulted in the deaths of the three detectives and left two additional officers severely injured.
York County District Attorney Tim Barker suggested that Ruth, who also died during the shooting, intended to ambush the woman he was accused of following.
The three veterans of the police force have been remembered as devoted to their families and community.
Detective Becker, 39, hailed from Spring Grove and was once an outstanding multisport athlete during his high school years. Detective Baker, 53, a Dover resident, specialized in computer forensic investigations. Detective Emenheiser, 43, from York, was known for his perfectionism and harbored aspirations of opening a gym.
Becker served as sergeant of detectives and had been on the Northern Regional force for 16 years. His obituary recounted how in 2010 he climbed to the second story of a burning building to catch children who were escaping through a window. He is survived by a wife and two children. A second service, a public funeral for Becker, will be held Sunday at Spring Grove Area High School in Spring Grove.
Baker, a U.S. Army veteran, spent three years with the Philadelphia Police Department before he joined Northern Regional in 2004, first as a patrol officer and then in computer forensics. He had been a detective for 15 years. He was an Eagle Scout and an adult Scouting leader. Survivors include a wife and four children; a fifth child predeceased him.
Emenheiser was a York College criminal justice graduate and served in the U.S. Secret Service before being hired by Northern Regional. He made 104 DUI arrests in 2010 and was named officer of the year, among other professional honors over two decades with the department.
In 2005, Emenheiser broke a window in a burning mobile home in Thomasville and carried a man to safety. Emenheiser’s interests included fitness, home renovations and coaching youth soccer. His surviving family includes a wife and two children.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
