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“Facebook Killer” Steve Stephens Shocks Internet in Murder Suicide

Police tracked down, an Ohio man dubbed as the “Facebook Killer” on Tuesday after getting a tip from McDonalds workers in Pennsylvania. The suspect, Steve Stephens, committed suicide after being caught during police pursuit. Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg issued a public apology for allowing the video to surface on the social media site.

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Thirty-seven-year-old Steve Stephens posted to Facebook as he gunned down retiree Robert Goodwin in Cleveland, Ohio at 2 pm on Easter Sunday. Stephens had “put-up” several other posts including one explaining that he “just snapped” because of his gambling debt and his breakup with his partner of three years, Joy Lane.

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A manhunt was launched to apprehend Stephens, with a 50,000-dollar reward promised for information on the killer. Stephens was spotted on Tuesday at a McDonalds in Erie, Pennsylvania and detained by courageous workers until police arrived.

The McDonalds employees reportedly recognized Stephens and were able to detain him by asking him to wait for fries until police arrived. Stephens left right as the police arrived, leading to a two-mile chase that ended with Stephens suicide. 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology for the content and promised that measures will be taken to better monitor the content on the social media page. Meanwhile, the family of Robert Goodwin- including ten children and fourteen grandchildren- have issued a message of forgiveness during a Vigil held in Goodwin’s honor. 

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Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams called the shooting a “tragedy” and stated that the Cleveland Police would have liked to bring Stephens to justice. Prior to the incident Stephens had no criminal record. After the initial post, Stephens made several follow up posts confessing to other murders, though the bodies had not been recovered.