Montgomery County murder suspect Bradley Stone found dead near home
Bradley Stone, suspected in killing six people in Eastern Pa. has been found dead near his Pennsburg home.
The body was found around 1 p.m. in a wooded area near Fourth Street and Schoolhouse Road, about a half mile west and downhill from Stone’s Fourth Street house.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said Stone died of self-inflicted cutting wounds.
During a press conference this afternoon, Ferman said Stone had applied last week for emergency custody of his daughters as part of a protracted custody dispute.
Ferman said that Stone was not, to her knowledge, diagnosed with PTSD. Court records, however, indicate Stone, a Marine veteran, had been in treatment for PTSD.
The Souderton Telford Rotary will be leading a fundraising effort for the Stones’ daughters, Ferman said.
The victims suffered a combination of gunshot and cutting wounds.
The lone surviving victim, 17-year-old Anthony Flick of Souderton, is in serious condition with cutting wounds.
The discovery of Stone’s body means Pennsburg residents won’t have to spend another nervous night.
Gordon Kulp Jr., of Gilbertsville, spent Monday night fixing up a property along School House Road at the border of Pennsburg and Upper Hanover Township.
“I was worried last night,” Kulp said, noting that he was working on the vacant rancher style home. “I was using the bandsaw and then I would stop and you start hearing noises.”
Perry Sweatt, whose property neighbors the home Kulp is refurbishing warned his friend to be careful Monday night.
“I had all my guns loaded,” he said. “I was watching my deer cameras and as long as (the deer) were at the feeders they were my alarm. If they took off running I was ready.”
Both men said they were surprised nobody ever reported a gunshot. Sound travels up the hill from the gully where Stone’s body was found past several homes.
Mike Fiorito, 52, said he wasn’t nervous while Stone was still unaccounted for.
Fiorito owns the Western Auto on Pottstown Pike. Stone’s body was found in a wooded area where several properties’ boundary lines meet between Pottstown Pike and a small isolated section of Fourth Street.
“I am armed and dangerous too,” he said.
“I feel sorry for the people he killed but I am glad he did this because he is saving taxpayers a lot of money.”
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Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said at a press conference this morning that leads indicating fugitive murder suspect Bradley Stone may have been involved in an attempted carjacking in Doylestown Township “were not valid.”
Instead, police are back in Pennsburg, Montgomery County, going door to door and yard-to-yard along Fourth Street and the surrounding alleys looking for signs of Stone.
A command center and several armored vehicles are based in a large church parking lot on Dotts Street.
Pennsburg Borough officials issued a statement this afternoon alerting residents to the search.
“There is currently a heavy tactical police presence within the borough performing a grid based search,” the borough said in a Facebook post. “They WILL NOT be entering any homes or businesses. They may however enter any unsecured out buildings or garages.
“There will be K-9 officers on patrol as well. They will be looking for signs of forced entry as well as any evidence of the suspect.”
It asked residents who have concerns to flag down police, but to otherwise stay in their homes.
Rich Hartzell, a forklift driver, said he was sent home from work Tuesday so he could stay with his son, an Upper Perkiomen High School student.
He said the school, which he also attended, was right to close for the day. Even if Stone isn’t caught, he said he’d be comfortable sending his son back to classes because, “they keep it secure over there.” If they don’t, he’ll keep his son safe, “just as long as it doesn’t turn into a Pocono thing.”
Hartzell was making a reference to the 48-day manhunt in the Poconos for Eric Frein, who authorities say confessed to killing Pennsylvania state Trooper Bryon Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass.
Hartzell said the now two-day manhunt for Stone and the situation in Pennsburg is “very scary.”
“You really hope they catch this guy.”
Police searched the apartment building where Hartzell lives, about two blocks west of Stone’s home along Fourth Street.
Around noon, Ferman held a press conference where she said that despite the suspect in six Montgomery County shooting deaths still being at large.
“We will find Mr. Stone,” she said, adding that the manhunt is focused in the area in and around Pennsburg, where Stone is known to frequent.
Ferman also said that shooting victim Anthony Flick, 17, of Souderton, remains in “very serious” condition and that the Stones’ two daughters were safe.
She did not take questions following her statement.
Earlier today, Bucks County officials said they were still investigating the reported attempted carjacking last night in Doylestown Township, but continued to stress that they had not confirmed if Stone was involved.
According to a statement from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office earlier today, crime scene units were processing areas in and around the Stonington Farm Apartments on the 100 block of Commons Way in Doylestown Township.
At about 7:09 p.m. Monday, a man in the complex was walking his dog when a knife-wielding man reportedly approached him and demanded his victim’s keys, police said.
The victim was carrying a firearm and after a brief tussle, fired at the suspect, who then reportedly fled into a wooded area, police said.
The victim told police the suspect resembled Bradley W. Stone, a Marine vet from Pennsburg who is accused of killing his ex-wife and five members of her family and seriously injuring a sixth during an early morning spree of violence.
Stone, who is described as 5 feet 10 inches and 195 pounds, has a red/auburn beard and mustache with closely cropped hair.?
People who knew Stone and his ex-wife, Nicole Stone, have said the dispute was over custody of the couple’s two daughters, ages 5 and 7.
Police during their search in and around the apartment complex asked residents to “shelter in place” — that is, stay home — until the search was broken up around 12:30 a.m.
Police brought in K-9s and helicopters to help in the search, but with negative results, according to a statement this morning from Doylestown Township police.
“At this time, there does not appear to be any imminent threat to the community; however residents are encouraged to report any suspicious activity immediately,” said the Doylestown Township statement, issued about an hour before Ferman’s press conference. “Bradley William Stone has not positively been identified as being responsible for the reported crime and we will continue to investigate all possible leads.”
Because of the manhunt in Montgomery County, schools in the Upper Perkiomen School District, where Pennsburg is situated, were closed Tuesday.
North Penn, Pennridge and Souderton schools all opened as scheduled, but canceled outdoor activities and limited visitation.
As a precaution, schools in the Council Rock School District kept students inside, a statement from the district said.