New Jersey Native Who Killed 3 Captured After 4-State Search: Cops

A New Jersey native wanted for killing three people Monday night has been captured after a four-state search, according to police.

Erick Shute, 32, shot and killed three men around 6 p.m. in Morgan County, West Virginia, and then led police on a search that went through Maryland, New Jersey and then Pennsylvania, police said.

Police say they had a back-and-forth cell phone "ping" with Shute when he was in South Jersey Monday night, between Exits 7 and 10 on I-295, before capturing him in 12:30 a.m. in Chester County, Pa., Pennsville Police Chief Allen J. Cummings said.

Cummings said the town has had problems with Shute in the past, saying the suspect has threatened people, including two judges. Those two judges were put in a "protected area" Monday night while Shute was on the lam, he said.

Law enforcement from West Virginia, Washington County, Maryland, and New Jersey were searching for Shute after he fled West Virginia, according to morganmessenger.com.

The three men - identified as Jack Douglas, Travis Bartley and Willie Bartley - were reportedly shot and killed with a .223 caliber rifle outside Cacapon State Park in West Viriginia, according to the report.

In a Facebook post provided to NJ Advance Media, Shute said the shooting was an act of self defense and that the men stole from him and threatened him.

Shute moved from his North Hook Road home in Pennsville two years ago, according to his Facebook page, and was living in Great Cacapon, West Virginia.