A man wanted on a murder charge out of Atlanta is dead following a police chase Thursday that ended when he crashed into a store, authorities said.
The pursuit, which involved Georgia State Patrol troopers and officers with Atlanta police, began along I-75/85 South near University Avenue after troopers realized the driver, 36-year-old Maurice Bradley, was a wanted man and attempted a traffic stop, GSP spokesperson Konswello Monroe said.
Bradley eventually pulled into the parking lot of a food mart along Pryor Road, but then Monroe said he attempted to drive off again. A trooper used a cruiser to make contact with the fleeing vehicle, commonly known as a PIT maneuver, and Bradley crashed into a package store near the intersection of Pryor Road and University Avenue about 2:30 p.m., Monroe said.
Authorities then heard gunfire coming from inside the vehicle as they approached it, according to Monroe.
“They extricated the driver from the vehicle, and it appeared the driver endured a self-inflicted gunshot,” she said, adding that Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police confirmed Bradley was wanted in connection with a domestic dispute that turned deadly Wednesday afternoon in the 500 block of McWilliams Road in southeast Atlanta. At that scene, officers found a woman dead from a gunshot wound, police said.
The shooting marked the 100th homicide in Atlanta this year.
John Blackwell Jr., an assistant manager at a NAPA Auto Parts store, told Channel 2 Action News he was helping a customer when he saw the police chase and eventually heard a single gunshot.
“Immediately when the driver’s door opened, the police were surrounding the car,” Blackwell said. “I heard one gunshot. That was it. No exchange of gunfire.”
The GBI confirmed they are investigating the incident.
The intersection where the crash ended is near the former Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed by Atlanta police June 12, 2020, and where Secoriea Turner was fatally shot July 4, 2020.
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