A man who ambushed five Pennsylvania police officers this week, killing three of them , is a suspected stalker who opened fire with an assault-style rifle, according to a local prosecutor.

Officers from the North York County Regional Police Department and York County Sheriff’s Office were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for 24-year-old Matthew Ruth when he opened fire, county District Attorney Tim Barker said on Thursday.

Ruth was killed in the ensuing gunfight with police, which unfolded at a farmhouse that belonged to his ex-girlfriend and her mother in North Codorus Township, about 185km (115 miles) west of Philadelphia.

Barker said five police detectives and a deputy sheriff sought to arrest Ruth on suspicion of stalking his ex-partner, as well as prowling and trespassing.

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