A North Carolina man suspected of killing his wife early Friday fled to Whitfield County, Ga., and shot himself to death as deputies closed in, authorities said.
Whitfield County authorities said John Fred Stanley, 42, of Bryson City, N.C., shot himself with the same .38-caliber revolver used to shoot his estranged wife, according to a news release.
In the release, Capt. Rick Swiney with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office said North Carolina law enforcement notified his department Friday that Stanley was wanted in the death of his wife and that he might be in the county.
He said the wife, whose first name was unavailable at press time, was being dropped off by her sister at her workplace at a motel when someone pulled up beside the vehicle and began firing. The victim ran into the motel lobby, where she died.
The Associated Press reported the site was the Quality Inn on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, N.C.
According to Swiney, the North Carolina authorities said Stanley could be on Fannie Road in the Dalton area. Deputies spotted a vehicle at a house on Fannie Road that looked like Stanley’s Honda Accord.
When they stopped to investigate, Stanley ran out the back door, across a field and into some woods off Old Rome Road. When he saw the pursuing deputies closing in, Stanley shot himself in the head, Swiney said.
Stanley was pronounced dead after being airlifted to Erlanger hospital, Swiney said in the release.
The manager on duty with the Cherokee, N.C., Quality Inn on Saturday said he could not confirm whether the woman worked there or comment on the shooting.