A nationwide manhunt for a suspect who allegedly shot an elderly man dead in Cleveland and then uploaded it to Facebook has ended with the man shooting and killing himself in Pennsylvania’s Erie County.
Steve Stephens, 37, shot himself while driving his white Ford Fusion to Erie County in the state’s northwestern corner, New York Post reported.
“Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by Pennsylvania State Police members in Erie County,” the state police said on its Twitter account. “After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself.”
Authorities had offered up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect, who was wanted on a warrant for aggravated murder. Local, state and federal authorities were involved in the hunt for Stephens, who was said to be driving in a white Ford Fusion with a temporary tag.
Stephens was wanted on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting death of 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr., who was picking up aluminum cans Sunday after spending Easter with his family.
Stephens had uploaded a video of himself killing Godwin, a former foundry worker who had 10 children, police said. In it, he said, “I snapped, I just snapped.”
On Sunday, the killer shared a recording of himself announcing his plan to kill someone, then two minutes later posted another video of himself shooting and killing Godwin. A few minutes after that, he went live and confessed.
“We’re grateful that this has ended,” Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said. “We would prefer that it had not ended this way because there are a lot of questions, I’m sure, that not only the family but the city, in general, would have had for Steve.”