© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Facebook Murder Suspect Has 'Shot And Killed Himself,' According to Authorities

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 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 been offering up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of 37-year-old Steve Stephens, 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.

"There's not a federal agency in the United States that is not involved in some way," said Stephen D. Anthony, special agent in charge of the FBI in Cleveland, at a news conference Tuesday.

Authorities received more than 400 tips from the public related to the apparently random killing of 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr.

Facebook says the suspect allegedly uploaded a video at 11:09 a.m. local time on Sunday declaring his intent to commit murder, Facebook said. A video uploaded two minutes later appears to show him gunning down Godwin.

Eleven minutes after that, according to the social media site, he broadcast a live video of himself confessing to the murder. In a timeline of the events, Facebook says the video of the shooting was visible to the public for more than two hours. The site says it was no longer visible 23 minutes after it was first reported.

 

Credit Associated Press
/
Associated Press
This undated file photo provided by the Cleveland Police shows Steve Stephens. Pennsylvania State Police said Stephens, the suspect in the random killing of a Cleveland retiree posted on Facebook, shot and killed himself after a brief pursuit Tuesday, April 18, 2017

"As a result of this terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible," Facebook's Vice President of Global Operations Justin Osofsky said in a statement Monday evening.

As The Two-Way reported, police say that Stephens "claimed to have committed multiple other homicides, which are still not verified."

Authorities said Tuesday that they have not found any additional victims.

The Associated Press reported that Stephens' life "appeared to be unraveling under the weight of gambling debts and trouble with his girlfriend."

He worked as a "vocational specialist involved in preparing youth and young adults ages 16-25 for employment," according to the wire service.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Merrit Kennedy is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers a broad range of issues, from the latest developments out of the Middle East to science research news.
More On This Topic