Man suspected of shooting at officer kills himself after police chase, officials say

CINCINNATI -- The man suspected of shooting at a police officer at the Hartwell Kroger last weekend shot and killed himself during a police chase Wednesday afternoon, a city official said.

The suspect, Ronald Foster, crashed on southbound I-75 under the 9th Street overpass near Downtown about 1:45 p.m. It's unclear whether he shot himself before or after the crash.

City Manager Harry Black informed city council during its regular Wednesday meeting that Foster was the subject of the chase and shot himself. 

The crash led to a long traffic jam as southbound lanes were shut down at the Ezzard Charles exit through rush hour. They were reopened just before 6 p.m. once police cleared the scene.

Suspect’s car is what appears to be a dark blue older model Honda Odyssey being loaded onto red tow truck. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/iepk75KjBd

— Hillary Lake, WCPO (@hillarylake) November 8, 2017

Police said the chase started about 4 miles north on Spring Grove Avenue near the police impound lot. Police had been doing surveillance on Foster before the pursuit. They said a man matching Foster's description got in a van and Springfield Township police pursued, eventually calling for back-up from Cincinnati police.

The coroner's office removed the body about 4 p.m. and reported that the white male died of a single shot to the head region.

"We'll have to take a look at him during the autopsy and see what other injuries there are," said Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco.  "For now anyway, it looks like the single gunshot wound is the only injury we can see from the surface."

Police had been looking for Foster since Sunday afternoon. That's when Springfield Township police said an officer stopped Foster for a traffic violation in the Hartwell Kroger parking lot about 1:30 p.m. They said Foster got out of his 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and fired one shot at the officer. The officer returned fire, but no one was hit.

WATCH WCPO's report on Sunday's incident:

Foster then fled on foot into a wooded area near the rear of the store, according to police.