(ANTIMEDIA) Pennsylvania State Police have confirmed that Steve Stephens shot and killed himself Tuesday morning after they attempted to pull him over in Erie County. Stephens was the subject of a multi-state manhunt after he fatally shot a 74-year-old man in Cleveland on Facebook Live on Saturday.
“Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself,” Pennsylvania State Police tweeted at 11:46am local time Tuesday.
Stephens was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot inside a white Ford Fusion near Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue around 11:10am, police told the Erie Times-News.
The car was reported facing west toward Erie, across from the former Burton Elementary School, where local and state police were cordoning off the area.
Stephens, 37, was wanted for aggravated murder in relation to the Saturday shooting of Robert Godwin in Cleveland, Ohio.
Maggie Green, Stephens’ mother, was one of the last people to speak with him before he took to Facebook Live and chose to kill Godwin at random. Green heard of Stephens’ death via radio reports, according to Fox News.
“‘Momma this will be the last time you see me…I just wanted to see you for the last time,’” Green said her son told her, Fox News reported.
In a press conference officially announcing the end of the manhunt, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters that police “received a tip that the vehicle we were looking for, a white Ford Fusion, was in a McDonald’s parking lot near Erie,” and that as officers approached, Stephens took his own life. Williams said he “preferred it not end this way,” as there remained “a lot of questions” — including from Stephens’ family — as to why he did what he did.
Williams clarified that he was still waiting on more information from the Pennsylvania State Police, but that he was told a short pursuit ended when Stephens stopped his vehicle, and, as police approached, shot himself.
In a Facebook post updating their initial report, Pennsylvania State Police said that “troopers in marked patrol units” pursued Stephens’ vehicle for about two miles before “troopers attempted a PIT maneuver,” in which police spin out a suspect’s car by hitting it from the rear.
“As the vehicle was spinning out of control from the PIT maneuver, Stephens pulled a pistol and shot himself in the head,” state police said.
“A patrol trooper involved with the pursuit could not stop in time and slid into Stephens’ vehicle causing minor damage,” the Facebook post added. No injuries to police or the public were reported.
“Steve Stephens was spotted just after 11 a.m. this morning by an alert citizen near the intersection in Erie County” @PAStatePolice pic.twitter.com/fKtEVJBsv9
— News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) April 18, 2017