Man shoots, kills self on freeway after Corona-to-OC police chase

A man shot himself to death on the Riverside (91) Freeway after leading police on a pursuit from Corona to Anaheim Hills and barricading in his vehicle for several hours, the Corona Police Department reported Friday.

Police said the man, whose name was not released, was sought for alleged stalking, criminal threats and violating a domestic violence restraining order.

The chase started around 8 a.m. Friday when Corona police attempted a traffic stop near McKinley Street and Griffin Way and the suspect drove away, according to Corona Police Department Cpl. Tobias Kouroubacalis.

After the California Highway Patrol joined the pursuit, the suspect stopped on the 91 Freeway near Lakeview Avenue in Anaheim Hills. Armored vehicles — one from Corona police at the rear end and another from the Anaheim Police Department at the front, blocked the suspect’s vehicle, Kouroubacalis said.

The ensuing four-hour standoff stymied trips for morning commute as the CHP shut down the freeway while crisis negotiators from the Corona PD spoke with the suspect on his cell phone. Negotiators had the man on the phone for over two hours in an attempt to convince him into surrendering without violence.

Just before noon, “the suspect stopped moving inside his vehicle, and

he stopped communicating with us on his phone,” Kouroubacalis said in a statement. “Our Special Response Team officers deployed light and sound diversion devices to the outside of his vehicle to gain his attention, but our officers did not see a reaction from him. Special Response Team members approached the vehicle and determined the suspect had a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Police removed the suspect from the vehicle, and paramedics from the Corona and Anaheim fire departments determined he was dead.

Officers did not use deadly force during the standoff, police said.

The 8 a.m.-noon freeway shutdown resulted in a mileslong backup on both sides of the 91.

Video from the scene showed some commuters standing outside their cars on the freeway as they were stranded behind a swath of law enforcement vehicles.

The freeway barricade led to shelter-in-place orders at nearby Crescent Elementary School and Orange Pre-K that lifted by the afternoon and all students were sent home, City News Service reported.

Corona police asked tipsters with information about this case to call Detective Steven Hungerford at 951-739-4858 or email him at Steven.Hungerford@CoronaCA.gov.