A police officer searches for suspect Bradley William Stone, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, in Pennsburg, Pa. Schools closed and hospitals and other public places tightened security Tuesday, as police in suburban Philadelphia hunted for the Marine veteran suspected of killing his ex-wife and five of her relatives. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Updated
Updated at 11:55 p.m. to report suspect killed himself, add details.
PENNSBURG, Pa. — An ex-Marine’s suicide ended a violent rampage that left his ex-wife and five of her relatives dead a week after he lost a custody battle.
Bradley Stone was found dead of self-inflicted stab wounds Tuesday following a killing spree in suburban Philadelphia. Residents and officials were relieved it was over but mourned the loss of so many lives.
The disabled 35-year-old spared his two young daughters, but authorities said he broke into three homes early Monday and killed his ex-wife; her mother and grandmother; and her sister, brother-in-law and 14-year-old niece. A 17-year-old nephew survived by barricading himself in the third floor of his home, but not before he suffered a skull fracture.
Stone’s body was found the next afternoon a half-mile from his home in Pennsburg, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The discovery ended a day-and-a-half manhunt that brought back memories of the recent 48-day search in the Pocono Mountains for survivalist Eric Frein, charged with killing a state trooper and critically wounding another during an ambush.