Man’s Rampage Ends in Suicide

A man who apparently shot his girlfriend to death Friday morning in Pomona and then fled the house with another woman as captive shot himself to death after his car crashed in Inglewood, police said.

James W. Jackson, 28, of Inglewood killed himself as a police officer from the Inglewood Unified School District approached his wrecked car at Florence Avenue near Cedar Street at 4:15 a.m.

Police said his girlfriend, Ursula Mae Derouen, 29, had been shot in the neck with a small-caliber handgun at her home in the 2300 block of North Towne Avenue. Authorities suspect she was killed during a quarrel with Jackson.

Jackson fled in his car with a woman who told police she had been taken against her will. She managed to escape in Inglewood and called authorities.

Officers with the California Highway Patrol chased Jackson on the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles, said CHP Officer Becky Lynch. They stopped the chase about 4:10 a.m. because fog made it too dangerous.

A few minutes later, the school district officer saw Jackson’s wrecked car. As the officer neared the vehicle, he said, he heard a single shot from inside the car.