Man Kills Self After Leading Police on Chase
An unidentified man apparently shot himself to death Friday afternoon after leading Los Angeles police on a high-speed, five-mile chase through downtown streets and along a freeway in a pickup truck he had commandeered from a motorist, authorities said.
The motorist, also unidentified, was apparently wounded by the gunman in the incident, which began shortly after 3 p.m. near Figueroa and 7th streets.
Officers said the gunman overpowered the motorist in a gray Chevrolet pickup truck and fired an undetermined number of shots, striking him at least once.
The gunman sped away and led pursuing officers on a chase that approached 60 m.p.h. on several downtown streets, investigators said. The pursuit continued on the Santa Monica Freeway before the gunman left the freeway in an industrial area southeast of downtown, officers said.
The chase ended in the 1800 block of South Hooper Avenue, south of the freeway and near a Blue Line route. The gunman pulled over and apparently shot himself in the head, officers said. As officers waited for homicide investigators to arrive, they handcuffed the dead man to the steering wheel of the stolen truck.
The motorist was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital.
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