Homicide suspect kills himself after fleeing through 3 states, authorities say

CUSTER, SD — Authorities said they are investigating a domestic violence case that ended with a man dead and a woman injured in South Dakota, and that the suspect fled through Wyoming before killing himself in Colorado on Saturday.

Officers responded to a report of a homicide at a home on US Highway 16 west of Custer in far western South Dakota on Friday around 9:45 p.m. They found a dead man there, while a woman who was assaulted in the incident drove herself to a hospital, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a news release.

The suspect fled the scene to Wyoming. He was ultimately apprehended early Saturday after a chase in northern Colorado, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said in a separate statement.

The sheriff’s office said it was notified around 2 a.m. Saturday that the suspect was driving a pickup truck toward Colorado from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Law enforcement tried to contact him, but he eluded officers as he drove south on Interstate 25. Attempts by deputies and state troopers to stop him with tire spikes at the Buckeye exit failed and the suspect shot at officers, said the sheriff’s office.

Officers eventually used a technique called a PIT maneuver, which uses a police cruiser to turn the suspect’s car and stop him, the sheriff’s office said.

“The man remained in the truck and before they could contact him, he shot himself,” the statement said. He died at the scene just south of the Wellington exit, about 65 miles north of Denver and about 280 highways. miles (450 kilometers) from Custer.

The sheriff’s office said a gun was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle. Officers did not fire their weapons during the incident, and no other injuries were reported.

“This was an extremely dangerous situation involving an armed suspect with a disturbing disregard for public safety,” Lt. Troy Badberg of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said in the statement. “Dispatchers, investigators and peace officers in multiple states worked quickly together and did everything they could to prevent harm to innocent people.”

Names of the victims and suspect were not immediately released.