The man who fatally shot a Delaware State Police trooper at a DMV office believed he was being monitored and harassed by law enforcement but had no prior interaction with the officer he killed, investigators said Friday.
State Police Cpl. Matthew Snook was working an overtime assignment at the New Castle Department of Motor Vehicles reception desk on Dec. 23 when Rahman Rose entered as a customer, approached him from behind and shot him with a handgun, state police last month. In a final update Friday, police said Rose had told others that he believed police were targeting him and had posted on social media about being the victim of “gang stalking,” which authorities described as a belief that one is being surveilled and harassed by government entities.
“Based on the totality of the evidence, detectives concluded this was a deliberate and targeted attack on law enforcement,” the state’s homicide unit said.
A New Castle county police officer shot Rose through a window from outside the building. Rose later died at a hospital.
Rose, 44, had previously lived in Connecticut and was living in Wilmington, Delaware, without a permanent address at the time of the shooting. His limited contact with Delaware law enforcement in the year prior to the shooting involved no criminal allegations or arrests, and none of that contact involved Snook.
Investigators said he first entered the DMV office on the morning of Dec. 23 and left a short time later. He returned again a few hours later and ambushed the officer, state police said. Snook shielded a DMV employee as he was shot at multiple times.
Investigators earlier said Rose allowed customers to leave but fired multiple rounds at law enforcement as they approached the building.
Snook, who went by “Ty,” was a 10-year veteran of the state police force.
“Ty’s courageous act of strength and sacrifice reflected the core values he lived by every day – protecting others with bravery, selflessness and steady integrity,” police said Friday.
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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.