A manhunt for ‘Facebook killer’ Steve Stephens ended Tuesday after he killed himself in Erie County, Pennsylvania while being pursued by state police.
The suspect, identified as Steve Stephens, videotaped himself fatally shooting 75-year-old Robert Godwin in Cleveland, authorities have said.
On Tuesday, Stephens shot himself after police attempted to stop his vehicle, Pennsylvania State Police announced.
Stephens was spotted Tuesday morning by police in Erie County, authorities said. “A traffic stop was attempted and, after a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself. More information will be released at it becomes available.”
Stephens was the subject of a nationwide manhunt after posting the video of the killing on Sunday.
Pennsylvania State Police officers found Stephens in Erie County, Pennsylvania, after getting a tip from the public that his white Ford Fusion was parked outside a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, Calvin Williams, the Cleveland police chief, told a news conference.
After a brief chase, Stephens stopped his vehicle, Williams said.
“As the officers approached that vehicle Steve Stephens took his own life,” Williams said. “We would have preferred that it had not ended this way,” he added, saying he and the community would have had “a lot of questions” for Stephens.
Stephens, who had no prior criminal record, was not suspected in any other killings, Cleveland officials said. Stephens said in a separate video on Facebook on Sunday that he had already killed a dozen others.
The shooting marked the latest video clip of a violent crime to turn up on Facebook, raising questions about how the world’s biggest social media network moderates content.
The company on Monday said it would review how it monitors violent footage and other objectionable material in response to the killing. The shooting video was visible on Facebook for nearly two hours before it was reported, the company said.
Stephens is not believed to have known Godwin, a retired foundry worker who media reports said spent Easter Sunday morning with his son and daughter-in-law before he was killed.
Additional reporting by Reuters
