Soldier Suspected of Killing Spree Found Dead

Leonard John Egland apparently shot himself
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2011 3:40 PM CDT
Updated Aug 28, 2011 4:56 PM CDT
Soldier Leonard John Egland at Large After Suspected Hurricane Killing Spree
In this undated photo provided by the Warwick Township Police Department, Leonard John Egland is seen.   (AP Photo/Warwick Township Police Department)

A soldier suspected of killing four and evading police amid Hurricane Irene was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after leading police on a manhunt all day. Leonard John Egland, 37, had recently returned home to Virginia from the most recent of three Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, and is believed to have killed his ex-wife, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s young son in that state, as well as his former mother-in-law in Pennsylvania. He later shot at police officers in suburban Philadelphia, and residents of Warwick Township were instructed to stay inside and lock their doors, the AP reports.

Egland evaded authorities as the storm raged. "I have no idea whether he's acting on impulse or whether this storm played a part in his thinking," says a DA. Though it is not known when three of the deaths occurred, the mother-in-law is believed to have been killed in Pennsylvania last night. Later in the evening, he flashed a pistol after attempting to leave his daughter alone at a Pennsylvania hospital. When he was stopped just before midnight in Doylestown, he allegedly fired a semi-automatic rifle at officers, hitting one in the arm and sending shattering glass into the face of another. He again allegedly fired on officers this morning, and later allegedly attempted to break into a home. He was found dead in suburban Philadelphia along with a rifle and pistol. (More Hurricane Irene stories.)

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