Police: Suspect in publicist’s death fatally shoots self

LOS ANGELES – A man described as a suspect in the slaying of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen fatally shot himself at a Hollywood apartment house Wednesday evening as Beverly Hills police were serving a search warrant there.

The shooting occurred about 6 p.m. at the Harvey Apartments on Santa Monica Boulevard. It was not immediately clear if police suspected the man of shooting Chasen or of being an accomplice, but four law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that detectives considered him a suspect.

The sources said detectives received information suggesting the man would be in his apartment Wednesday evening. He had been under surveillance for some time, they said.

When police officers approached the man in the lobby of the apartment building, he backed up and refused their orders to raise his hands. He pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head, the sources said. He died at the scene.

The identity of the man, who was believed to be in his 40s, was not released. The Harvey is home to a diverse array of tenants who pay month-to-month rents, including a number of elderly people and others on fixed incomes, as well as younger people.

Chasen’s slaying has shocked Hollywood and sparked endless speculation.

The publicist was shot to death early Nov. 16 while driving her Mercedes-Benz near the intersection of Whittier Drive and Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. She was on her way home from a premiere after-party for the Cher movie “Burlesque.”

Chasen is believed to have left the event about midnight and was traveling west on Sunset. Friends believe she planned to head south to her condominium on Wilshire Boulevard near the grounds of the Los Angeles Country Club.

Beverly Hills officials have said it appears that she was shot from another car, perhaps a truck or SUV.