The Flower Mound Police Department announced Thursday night that the suspect in Tuesday’s homicide has been identified as a California man who committed suicide before police could take him into custody.
Police responded to a shooting call at 5:53 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the 3600 block of Green Meadow Lane and found 18-year-old Matthew Thane dead from a gunshot wound. The suspect was not at the scene or in the area, and police launched a full homicide investigation.
Early on, detectives were led to an acquaintance of Thane’s whom he met through online gaming, according to a news release from FMPD. On Wednesday, police saw in that acquaintance’s cell phone data that he traveled from his home in Pleasanton, California to Flower Mound and back within 72 hours.
Flower Mound detectives then contacted the Pleasanton Police Department to assist with the investigation and sent two detectives to help. Once detectives were able to get a search warrant for the suspect’s residence, the Flower Mound detectives and Pleasanton police attempted to contact the suspect to serve the warrant late Wednesday night. It is believed the suspect, a 23-year-old man, took his own life as police were attempting to get the suspect to exit the residence, according to FMPD.
MURDER SUSPECT IDENTIFIED IN THANE CASE
The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau recently released the identity of Alexander Frank Baro, 23. Baro is the sole suspect in the August 18 homicide of 18-year-old Matthew Thane in Flower Mound. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Nz0NgVtlfF— Flower Mound PD (@FlowerMoundPD) September 11, 2020
A GoFundMe online fundraiser was set up for Thane’s family, who according to social media posts was known as “JPN” or “Japan” in the online gaming community, and played the popular “Call of Duty” game. He also had a Twitch channel, where gamers can play live online and others can watch.
