"Armed and Dangerous" Shooter Found Dead in Warwick

An Army captain from Virginia who police believe killed four people and shot at officers twice was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide.

His death ended a manhunt that captivated Bucks County even as Hurricane Irene walloped the area with drenching rains and wind.

Police found the body of Leonard John Egland, 37, around 3:40 p.m. Sunday in the area of York and Almshouse roads in Warwick Township.

A rifle, handgun and ammunition were found near the body, police said.

Officials spent nearly two hours processing the scene before removing the body for transport to the Bucks County Coroner's office. The official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Egland, of Fort Lee, VA, was an Army captain whom police initially believed had recently returned from service overseas. Police believe he killed four people, including his mother-in-law in Buckingham Township Saturday night during the height of Hurricane Irene.

Residents of the Jamison and Warwick neighborhoods where the search had been concentrated breathed a sigh of relief after the suspect's body was found. The lockdown had forced them to stay in their homes all day Sunday, many without power, as police dressed in riot gear swept the area looking for Egland.

Warwick Search Began Early Sunday

Warwick police had found Egland's truck in the parking lot of Giovanni's Pizza on York Road around 4 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Warwick Chief of Police Mark Goldberg.

Officers began searching the area and crossed York Road to the Lukoil gas station. When they approached a Dumpster behind the building, Egland began firing at the officers with a rifle and fled into the nearby wooded area, Goldberg said. His body was discovered there nearly 12 hours later.

Those 12 hours were long ones, indeed, for everyone involved, including police and emergency services responders already on alert for hours during Irene.

Warwick Township alerted area residents to the manhunt around 5:30 a.m. using the Bucks County Emergency Management alert system RSAN. It sent out automated text messages, e-mails, cell and home phone calls.

"This allowed the residents time to lock their doors and do the things they needed to do to stay safe," said Goldberg.

Unfortunately, not everyone got the message quickly because Irene had knocked out the power.

"We didn't get the alert (until) much, much, much later after the power turned back on," one reader commented on this story on Sunday, adding that she and her children were outside moving things back out after the hurricane. "The SWAT team was all over our front yard and back yard. Scared the heck out of us because we didn't know what was happening. We ran back inside the house and closed the garage door."

A large section of York Road, from Bristol Road to Sugarbottom Road, was roadblocked until about 3 p.m., when the search was suspended.

Police called off the intensive search, which drew in police personnel for miles around, because they believed the suspect had gotten past them.

"We just couldn't find him," Goldberg said. It was about 40 minutes later that the chief got the call that his officers had discovered Egland's body.

An Army spokesman confirmed Sunday evening that Egland was attached to Fort Lee.

Egland was a training developer at the Combined Arms Support Command at the base, said Stephen Baker, deputy public affairs officer for Fort Lee.

Baker said his office still was working to pull together details of Egland's service records and hoped to have more information available Monday afternoon.

"We have been working closely with Virginia and Pennsylvania State Police throughout the incident," Baker said.

Rampage Began in Virginia

The discovery of Egland's body ended a two-state rampage that began in Virginia.

Police believe Egland killed his ex-wife, Carrie, and her boyfriend and her boyfriend's son. They think he then took his young daughter, Lauryn, and drove north to Pennsylvania in search of Carrie's mother.

Once in Bucks County, police believe he broke into the home of his ex-wife's mother, Barbara S. Ruehl, and shot her. Police would find her dead hours later in her home at 3491 Church School Road in Buckingham Township.

From there, Egland took Lauryn to St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown and dropped her off in the emergency room with a note.

The girl reportedly told hospital workers that "grandmom went to heaven." Hospital workers confronted Egland, but he pulled out a gun, got into his truck and drove away.

Around midnight, as Hurricane Irene was unleashing her fury, police spotted Egland's black Dodge pickup truck heading toward Doylestown and pursued him.

He allegedly shot at the officers, wounding a Doylestown Borough officer and breaking a window that caused glass to ricochet into the eye of another officer.

Sunday morning, Doylestown Borough Mayor Libby White said borough officer Ed Hilton had been treated for the injuries he sustained and released from the hospital.

"Officer Hilton has been discharged, and he's home now," said White, who oversees the police department. "He’s a wonderful officer, and I was absolutely shocked about this shooting."

Suspect Got Away

After the suspect shot at the officers near Doylestown around midnight, he fled south down Route 611 in the Dodge pickup truck.

The message flashed out from police departments across Bucks and eastern Montgomery counties: an armed homicide suspect with a military background was on the loose in the dark of the storm.

About four hours later, Warwick police spotted the truck at the parking lot at York and Almshouse roads.

Egland shot at, and then eluded police again as he fled into the woods. That's when Warwick alerted its residents to lock their homes, cars and any outbuildings such as sheds or garages.

"He’s a suspect in three or four homicides and shot at police twice," Goldberg said Sunday morning. "I consider that person to be dangerous. Don’t approach him."

Under no circumstances were people to try to confront the suspect, Goldberg said.

Doylestown Township Police Chief Stephen White agreed.

"This is the most dangerous situation I’ve ever been involved in," White said Sunday morning. "This guy is extremely dangerous."

As the manhunt intensified, officers from across Bucks County flocked to Warwick. They manned barricades in the rain and wind as the last vestiges of Hurricane Irene left the area.

York Road was barricaded from Bristol Road to Sugar Bottom Road for much of the day.

Residents called in sightings to police, who then checked them out while also searching the woods and neighborhoods. A helicopter circled over Jamison and Warwick as the search went on.

From their bedroom windows, residents snapped pictures of SWAT teams sweeping through their suburban backyards.

Finally, word came that the suspect was dead, ending that part of the drama.

But the story is not over. Police and the Bucks County District Attorney's office still are trying to assemble a portrait of Egland to decipher what happened and why.

In 2007, Leonard Egland was a senior at Saint Leo University, majoring in criminal justice, according to a school publication. Carrie Egland, also a senior at the school, was majoring in business administration.

They were pictured with their daughter, Lauryn, as they participated in a remembrance walk honoring the victims of Sept. 11.

This is an ongoing story, and more questions remain. We hope to have more answers soon.