Police in Fairview Heights near St. Louis say 34-year-old Julian Walker's body was found Wednesday morning in a wooded area near railroad tracks.
An investigator says Walker shot himself, apparently with the same shotgun he used to fire upon two Fairview Heights officers who tried to question him hours earlier. Neither officer was injured, police Lt. Ronald Burckhardt said.
The officers had tried to question Walker about 2 a.m. after finding him walking away from his abandoned pickup truck, Burckhardt said. Pellets from the shotgun blast hit the driver's door of one of the police cruisers, he said.
Hours later, authorities some in body armor combed heavy brush near railroad tracks in search of Walker. Police helicopters and search dogs helped in the manhunt.
Investigators suspect Walker of shooting his ex-girlfriend's stepfather, 48-year-old Terrence Lott, on Monday in Lithonia, Ga., and of killing his estranged wife, 36-year-old Rosetta Walker, in Decatur, Ga., a short time later.
While Wednesday's manhunt pressed on, several schools in nearby O'Fallon were under lockdown as a precaution. Some businesses near the area where police were focusing their search also were closed.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/9/85752