Shooting, then suicide

An unidentified man shot and killed himself near the Huntington Beach Pier late Wednesday morning after leading police on a low-speed chase from Newport Beach, where he had shot another man, police said.

The man who was shot in Newport Beach survived and was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Police did not name either man, but witnesses said the man shot in Newport was in his early 20s and was visiting from Lake Tahoe. The motive for the shooting was unknown Wednesday, but witnesses said the dispute was about a woman, possibly the estranged wife of the shooter.

“This was individuals who knew one another ? this was not a random act,” said Newport Beach Police Lt. Tom Gazsi.

The incident began around 10 a.m. in a parking structure at the Coronado Apartments at 16th Street and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach, across from Newport Harbor High School. Neighbors reported hearing three shots, a scream and then the sound of car speeding away.

Everett McQuillin, who lives in the apartment complex, said he heard the shots, but thought it was construction noise. When he looked out from his balcony, he saw the wounded man coming down the stairs from the upper deck of the parking structure.

“The next thing I know, this guy’s running down the stairs, yelling ‘Help! I’ve been shot,’ ” McQuillin said.

He and his brother, along with other neighbors, ran out to help the man, bringing towels to stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived, McQuillin said.

Police and witnesses said the weapon was a shotgun.

The wounded man was coherent and told witnesses that he knew the name of the man who shot him. The wounded man, visiting from Lake Tahoe, is dating the shooter’s soon-to-be ex-wife, McQuillin said.

The shooter fled the scene in a silver Jeep Liberty. Police recognized the car from witnesses’ descriptions and followed the car into Huntington Beach.

The man drove past Main Street in downtown Huntington Beach and made a U-turn near 17th Street before bringing the car to a stop on Pacific Coast Highway at the base of the Huntington Beach Pier, witnesses said.

Before police could approach the car, witnesses heard a loud pop.

“He stopped, the cops’ doors flew open, guns drawn on him and then a pop,” said Rebecca Pilette, owner of the nearby El Don Liquor store.

Huntington Beach resident Don Autry watched the scene unfold as he stood near the intersection.

“He pulled over all casual and then we heard a pop,” Autry said.

Witnesses said police approached the vehicle on the passenger side and broke the window. The man was inside the car, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

“When they pried the gun from his hands, the engine was still revving,” said Autry, who described the weapon as a long-barreled shotgun.

Several blocks of downtown Huntington Beach were cordoned off for hours Wednesday as investigators worked around the silver Jeep parked on Pacific Coast Highway, directly in front of the Huntington Beach Pier. A yellow tarp covered the passenger window and hid the man’s body from view. dpt.20-shooting-2-CPhotoInfoS81Q4EDE20060420ixzqehnc(LA)At left, police investigate the scene of the Newport Beach shooting, the top floor of the parking garage at the Coronado Apartments. dpt.20-shooting-1-CPhotoInfoS81Q4EA520060420ixzqdvncPHOTOS BY KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Above, a tarp obscures the body of an unidentified man who shot and killed himself Wednesday at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach. Police said he shot another man earlier.