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I hope the AR15 wasn't an OLL.
(05-21) 23:20 PDT San Bruno -- A police chase of a murder suspect wanted in the Sunnyvale double homicide ended Wednesday with the apparent suicide of the suspect on a San Bruno highway, authorities said.
The suspect, Matthew Andrew O'Reilly, 29, of San Mateo, was being sought on suspicion of killing two acquaintances, Benjamin Osegura, 31, of Menlo Park and Jason Gamino, 29, of San Mateo, in a shooting Sunday night outside the Brass Rail adult club in Sunnyvale.
On Wednesday at about 6 p.m., authorities began pursuing a black SUV they believed was being driven by O'Reilly on northbound Highway 101. The chase continued to westbound highway 380, where the SUV crashed against the center divide.
Officers found a man believed to be O'Reilly slumped over in the front seat, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Sunnyvale police Capt. Doug Moretto. Police do not know whether the man shot himself before or after the crash.
The crash occurred around 6:40 p.m. and authorities, believing the driver was armed with an Uzi or AR-15, used a tactical squad to slowly approach the vehicle just after 7 p.m. Officers could see the man slumped over behind the wheel but they took precautions, breaking a window and deploying a gas into the vehicle to make sure the suspect was incapacitated.
However, after a second round of gas was released into the vehicle, an officer radioed, "Still no movement. Subject has not moved."
Officers eventually realized the suspect was dead.
The chase closed Interstate 380 in both directions during rush hour.
"Our main concern was to get this guy off the street," Moretto said. It's unknown what caused the vehicle to crash, he said.
The exact sequence of events leading up to the crash was unclear late Wednesday.
Authorities broadcast a county-wide alert to law enforcement at about 2 p.m. saying O'Reilly had been spotted driving north on Highway 101 in San Mateo in a vehicle that was either smoking or on fire.
Moretto said he couldn't comment on what happened to prompt the chase hours later that ultimately ended in O'Reilly's death, referring those questions to San Mateo police. Officials there did not return calls seeking comment.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross said officers from an agency other than the CHP were following O'Reilly before the chase began.
"They were doing some surveillance where they were following this guy," Chase said. "When they tried to corral him, that's when the chase started."
The coroner is expected to confirm that the body is indeed O'Reilly.
O'Reilly had previous convictions for drug use, resisting arrest and evading police, according to court documents.
"I have many problems to resolve when I'm released," he wrote to the court from prison in 2003. "Overall, the largest is my drug addiction."
It is unknown why he allegedly gunned down the two men on Sunday, who a mutual acquaintance said were "friends of a friend" to O'Reilly.
The suspect, Matthew Andrew O'Reilly, 29, of San Mateo, was being sought on suspicion of killing two acquaintances, Benjamin Osegura, 31, of Menlo Park and Jason Gamino, 29, of San Mateo, in a shooting Sunday night outside the Brass Rail adult club in Sunnyvale.
On Wednesday at about 6 p.m., authorities began pursuing a black SUV they believed was being driven by O'Reilly on northbound Highway 101. The chase continued to westbound highway 380, where the SUV crashed against the center divide.
Officers found a man believed to be O'Reilly slumped over in the front seat, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Sunnyvale police Capt. Doug Moretto. Police do not know whether the man shot himself before or after the crash.
The crash occurred around 6:40 p.m. and authorities, believing the driver was armed with an Uzi or AR-15, used a tactical squad to slowly approach the vehicle just after 7 p.m. Officers could see the man slumped over behind the wheel but they took precautions, breaking a window and deploying a gas into the vehicle to make sure the suspect was incapacitated.
However, after a second round of gas was released into the vehicle, an officer radioed, "Still no movement. Subject has not moved."
Officers eventually realized the suspect was dead.
The chase closed Interstate 380 in both directions during rush hour.
"Our main concern was to get this guy off the street," Moretto said. It's unknown what caused the vehicle to crash, he said.
The exact sequence of events leading up to the crash was unclear late Wednesday.
Authorities broadcast a county-wide alert to law enforcement at about 2 p.m. saying O'Reilly had been spotted driving north on Highway 101 in San Mateo in a vehicle that was either smoking or on fire.
Moretto said he couldn't comment on what happened to prompt the chase hours later that ultimately ended in O'Reilly's death, referring those questions to San Mateo police. Officials there did not return calls seeking comment.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross said officers from an agency other than the CHP were following O'Reilly before the chase began.
"They were doing some surveillance where they were following this guy," Chase said. "When they tried to corral him, that's when the chase started."
The coroner is expected to confirm that the body is indeed O'Reilly.
O'Reilly had previous convictions for drug use, resisting arrest and evading police, according to court documents.
"I have many problems to resolve when I'm released," he wrote to the court from prison in 2003. "Overall, the largest is my drug addiction."
It is unknown why he allegedly gunned down the two men on Sunday, who a mutual acquaintance said were "friends of a friend" to O'Reilly.
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