Pursuit ends in suspect’s death, crash

A suspect who was being pursued by a Garland County sheriff’s deputy following a disturbance on Appalachian Trail Thursday night crashed his vehicle on Joy Terrace as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot, the sheriff’s department said Friday.

GCSD Investigator Terry Threadgill told The Sentinel-Record Friday that the suspect’s death led to his vehicle crashing on Joy Terrace around 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. The name of the suspect was not being released Friday.

Threadgill said that, at this point in the investigation, it appears as if the suspect used a gun to cause a self-inflicted death.

“All indications are, at this point in time, that the suspect fired one shot at himself,” Threadgill said.

The sheriff’s department processed the scene of the crash Thursday night. The suspect’s vehicle has since been released.

Investigators Threadgill and John Greathouse said deputies had initially responded to a disturbance at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday at a residence on Appalachian Trail, as the result of two separate incidents

involving the same suspect. The first incident was a domestic battery, followed by the victim stating that the suspect had a gun and was beating on her door.

The suspect reportedly drove from Appalachian Trail to Kyler Terrace, then turned east on Marion Anderson Road and then south on Joy Drive.

Dispatchers had described the suspect’s vehicle to the deputy, who located a vehicle matching its description on Joy Drive and attempted to make a traffic stop.

In response to the attempted traffic stop, the suspect turned off the vehicle’s headlights and proceeded to drive away from the deputy onto Joy Terrace, where the crash occurred following the gunshot.

Threadgill said that the suspect’s body has been sent to the state crime lab for autopsy.