Va. soldier at large in Philly area after 4 deaths
By RON TODT, Associated Press
Aug 28, 2011 2:34 PM CDT
A Pennsylvania State Police Trooper places a road flare at a roadblock during a manhunt Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in Furlong, Pa. A soldier who recently returned from war service fired at officers in suburban Philadelphia as he was sought in the Virginia deaths of his ex-wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's...   (Associated Press)

A soldier who recently returned from war service fired at officers in suburban Philadelphia as he was sought in the Virginia deaths of his ex-wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's young son, authorities said. The soldier's former mother-in-law was also killed, and he remains at large.

Residents of Warwick Township were asked to stay in their homes and lock doors and cars as police hunted for Leonard John Egland, 37, of Fort Lee, Va., who evaded authorities as Hurricane Irene lashed the area.

"I have no idea whether he's acting on impulse or whether this storm played a part in his thinking," said David Heckler, district attorney in Bucks County, Pa.

Heckler didn't know when the Virginia deaths occurred but said Egland's former mother-in-law, 66-year-old Barbara Reuhl of Buckingham, Pa., was believed to have been killed Saturday night.

Later that night, Egland went to St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown, where he tried to leave his young daughter along with a note, Heckler said. After a male nurse or orderly confronted him, he allegedly flashed a pistol, and the hospital worker called police with a description of the suspect and his black pickup truck.

Just before midnight, the truck was stopped by state and local police in Doylestown Township, where he allegedly fired shots from a semi-automatic rifle, hitting a Doylestown officer in the arm and shattering a windshield that sent glass into the face of a Dublin officer.

The truck was spotted around 4 a.m. Sunday parked at a restaurant in a Warwick Township shopping center, and local officers spotted the suspect in the same area about an hour later and reported being fired upon. No one was hit. Police issued an alert to residents to consider the suspect armed and dangerous.

Heckler said the suspect later apparently tried unsuccessfully to break into a home. Emergency dispatchers said he was still being sought Sunday afternoon by state and local police with the aid of two SWAT teams and dogs. He was believed to be on foot.

By late afternoon, Warwick Township Deputy Police Chief Mark Goldberg told WCAU-TV that SWAT operations had ceased.

"We've been unable to locate him, we don't know where he is," Goldberg told the station. "Up until now, we've been telling people, `Please stay in your houses, keep your houses secure and locked, lock your cars.' At this point, I would say to people to use common senses in using your own security. ... You can't reasonably lock yourselves in your home forever."

Egland had recently returned from the latest of three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Heckler said. He didn't have details on his rank or military service.

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