Amber Alert ended: Suspect Elias Huizar found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on I-5 near Eugene

Authorities have disclosed that a man suspected of committing two murders in central Washington state this week and abducting a 1-year-old child ultimately succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police pursuit in Oregon.

The suspect, identified earlier as 40-year-old Elias Huizar, a former police officer, had evaded the scene of a fatal shooting at an elementary school in West Richland on Monday.

Oregon State Police encountered Huizar’s vehicle traveling south on Interstate 5 near Eugene on Tuesday afternoon, prompting a pursuit.

During the pursuit, the suspect was involved in a minor collision, and both he and law enforcement exchanged gunfire before he drove away again, as described by Oregon State Police Cpt. Kyle Kennedy on Tuesday night.

Fortunately, there were no injuries reported in the initial gunfire exchange.

According to Kennedy, the suspect later collided with another vehicle a short distance away. When law enforcement located him, they discovered that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police confirmed that Roman Santos, the 1-year-old child, was safely apprehended by state troopers.

West Richland police stated in a prior update regarding the manhunt that Huizar had been observed driving a black sedan overnight from Monday into Tuesday.

The information was relayed to them by authorities in Portland, Oregon.

On Monday, Huizar purportedly fatally shot one woman outside William Wiley Elementary School in West Richland.

Following this incident, authorities executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered the body of another victim, as stated by West Richland police, who responded to the scene around 3:30 p.m. local time.

The deceased individuals were identified as Huizar’s ex-wife and girlfriend, according to an Amber Alert issued by Washington State Patrol on behalf of West Richland police around 9:45 p.m. Monday evening. The alert encompassed both Washington and Oregon.

While Richland police did not disclose the identities of the victims in their own statements regarding the homicides, they did mention that the individual found deceased in Huizar’s residence “is a known associate of the suspect.”

Huizar formerly served as a police officer in Yakima, located approximately an hour’s drive from West Richland. He held this position within the police department from 2014 to 2022.

Earlier this year, Huizar faced accusations in Yakima of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, resulting in charges of second-degree rape and furnishing alcohol to minors. Additionally, Huizar is confronting a separate charge of third-degree rape for allegedly engaging in a long-term intimate relationship with a girl who is currently 17 years old.

Authorities previously indicated their belief that Huizar was en route to Mexico with the abducted child. Initially, they alerted the public to be on the lookout for a silver 2009 Toyota Corolla bearing Washington state license plates, which Huizar allegedly used to depart the site of the school shooting.

Officials provided a description of 1-year-old Roman Huizar as being 2 feet tall with brown hair and brown eyes; however, the child’s relationship to Elias Huizar was not explicitly specified.

Police appealed for assistance in locating the suspect, expressing concerns that he was “likely to commit more crimes.”