Suspect in Grain Valley shooting commits suicide after chase in San Diego

A man suspected of shooting a woman in the head in a Grain Valley parking lot earlier this week apparently committed suicide after a police chase in San Diego.

Police in San Diego found the body of Alan Duane Lovelace Jr., 36, inside a minivan early Friday morning. He died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Grain Valley police.

Lovelace was suspected of shooting a woman Tuesday evening in the parking lot of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in Grain Valley.

The woman, who police said is his estranged domestic partner, was leaving work around 5:45 p.m. when Lovelace confronted her.

After he allegedly shot her, Lovelace fled in her 2002 Chevrolet Venture minivan.

Grain Valley police worked with Kansas City police to find Lovelace. At 2 a.m., a detective with the Grain Valley police located Lovelace by using technology to track the suspect’s cellphone.

Police contacted San Diego authorities and told them Lovelace had been tracked to a beach community there.

San Diego police found the victim’s stolen minivan about 2:30 a.m. When police tried to contact him, he fled, leading police on a short chase, said Lt. Andra Brown of the San Diego Police Department.

Eventually, police trapped him near a beach. After Lovelace did not obey commands to get out of the vehicle, police moved in and found that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound from a small-caliber handgun.