The suicide of a "person of interest" in the shooting death of celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen will not end the investigation, Beverly Hills Police Lt. Tony Lee said Wednesday evening.
The man, described by a coroner's spokesman as a male in his early 40s, pulled a handgun and shot himself as Beverly Hills detectives tried to question him in the lobby of a low-rent Hollywood apartment building, Los Angeles Police Capt. Kevin McClure said.
Investigators did not reveal what role they believe this man played in Chasen's killing last month, but there were indications they suspect others were involved. Lee stopped short of calling the dead man a suspect.
"It's not over," Lee said when asked whether his death ended the probe into Chasen's killing.
The shooting, which happened in a posh residential area of Beverly Hills, shocked the entertainment industry and sent fear through the community.
Detectives believe Chasen's killer fired at least four shots into her Mercedes-Benz from another vehicle as she made a turn off Sunset Boulevard onto a residential street, the police chief said last week.
Chasen was on her way home from a star-studded premiere celebration for the movie "Burlesque" in the early morning of November 16.
The Beverly Hills mayor told reporters last week that police suspected Chasen, 64, was targeted by her killers. He later said it was his personal theory.
Police did not appear to be searching any of the vehicles parked near the Hollywood apartment building in the hours after the shooting, although they put a bicycle into an evidence van.
Lee would not say what kind of handgun the man used to shoot himself.
A coroner's report leaked last week said the killer apparently used a 9mm handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets -- ammunition designed to inflict heavy damage.
The detectives were at the Harvey Apartments on Santa Monica Boulevard conducting a "follow-up investigation" when "the person they were looking for showed up," McClure said.
"They attempted to talk to the suspect," he said. "When they did, the suspect produced a handgun and there was a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
He was pronounced dead on the scene in the lobby of the apartment building, he said.
Eddie Burke, an Alaskan who rents an apartment there, said he saw the detectives when he walked into the manager's office to use the fax machine four hours before the shooting.
"It looked like I interrupted a conversation," Burke said. The manager asked him to return later, which he did at 4:30 p.m.
"They were still there and she was still kind of nervous, still standoffish," Burke said. "And I literally asked her 'Is this the heat?' and smiling at her, and she responded 'Yes.'"
The shooting happened an hour later, according to police.
Resident Terry Gilpin said the apartments, available for a $600 month-to-month rent, are home to many struggling actors.
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group wikigraduation stoles and sashes
Subject: 'Person of interest' in Hollywood publicist death kills self 
Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:03 am