1st LD Wriththru: U.S. Facebook murder suspect kills himself after car chase: police

U.S. Facebook murder suspect Steve Stephens was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday after a car chase in the state of Pennsylvania, state police said.

"After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself," Pennsylvania State Police said.

Stephens, 37, was allegedly killed a 74-year-old man in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday and uploaded a video of the killing on Facebook, according to police.

Stephens has been on run since then and the U.S. authorities launched a national manhunt from Monday, offering a reward of up to 50,000 dollars for clues leading to his arrest.

Billboards around the country have been plastered with Stephens' photo in the past 24 hours.

In the video, which was removed from Facebook three hours after the killer uploaded on Sunday, the victim, named Robert Godwin Sr., can be seen raising his hands in an apparent attempt to ward off his attacker before he is shot once in the head, local media said.

Godwin, a grandfather of 14, was walking home from an Easter meal at the shooting. The police said Stephens chose his victim at random.

Facebook then issued a statement calling the incident a "horrific crime," saying that the company does "not allow this kind of content on Facebook."

The suspect is a member of the assertive community treatment team at Beech Brook, a mental health organization in northeast Ohio, according to local media reports. Endit