Update, 19 April 8.43am: Police have confirmed that Steve Stephens took his own life during a car chase in Pennsylvania yesterday.
Original article: Ohio police are still searching for alleged murderer Steve Stephens after he shot an elderly man on Sunday and posted a video of it to Facebook.
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The video, originally reported as live but later found to be previously recorded, depicted Stephens shooting 74-year-old Robert Goodwin Sr as he was picking up aluminium cans. Stephens told Goodwin that a woman (whose name has been kept private) was the reason for his death.
Goodwin was forced to say her name before asserting he didn’t know who she was. He was then shot.
Family say Goodwin Sr was a “good guy” who would “give you the shirt off his back”.
I just spoke with a man and woman who said the man killed in the FB live video was their 78 year old father @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/Gpf3EUafLM
— Shanice (@ShaniceDunning) April 16, 2017
After the murder, Stephens live-broadcast himself driving, claiming he’d killed 13 people and was “working on 14 as we speak”. He said that it was part of his “Easter Day slaughter”.
Police have not confirmed these claims, stating that no evidence of other murders has been found.
Stephens goes on to discuss the woman, who has been confirmed as an ex-girlfriend.
“I just snapped, man,” he says in the live video. “I’m just killing mother f***ers, man. All because of this b****. She put me at my pushing point, man.”
Facebook removed the video around three hours after it was posted, though it’s yet unclear whether it acted autonomously or if police requested the removal.
Alleged murderer Steve Stephens who shot an elderly man and posted a video of it to Facebook, is still at large
“This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook,” a spokesperson for the company told Buzzfeed. “We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety.”
But this isn’t the first time Facebook has come under fire for its lax standards for live videos. Several people have reportedly committed suicide using the feature, including teenagers — forcing the company to improve its suicide prevention feature.
Mashable also reported in December last year that the most popular live videos are pornographic cam girls. Facebook initially stated that it only monitors videos once they’ve been flagged, but later assured that human moderators monitor videos that reach a certain amount of viewers.
For now, Stephens is still on the run, but he won’t be posting anything more to his since-deactivated Facebook account. Police claim he is driving a white vehicle, and warn those in Ohio and its neighbouring states to be on the lookout.
UPDATE Homicide suspect Steve Stephens’ actual vehicle has Ohio Temp tag E363630 pic.twitter.com/tE3r5u4BNN
— Cleveland Police (@CLEpolice) April 17, 2017
