Gunman who killed man at Melbourne bar kills himself after leading Georgia deputies on chase

MELBOURNE, Fla. — A 42-year-old man who shot a 39-year-old man to death late Sunday at a bar was found dead in Georgia, the Melbourne Police Department said Tuesday.

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Investigators said Michael Alan Smith, of Melbourne, killed Westly A. Lopes, also of Melbourne, shortly after 11:15 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot outside Mugs Pub on Croton Road near Sarno Road.

Detectives said they worked throughout Sunday evening and Monday to find Smith to arrest him.

They said that at about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, a Florida Department of Agriculture officer noticed a car that was reported as stolen from Brevard County on Interstate 95 north of Jacksonville.

Read: Man found shot to death in parking lot in Melbourne, police say

Detectives said that officer followed the driver into Georgia and notified the Camden County Sheriff’s Office of the vehicle.

Deputies tried to stop the driver.

“The car fled and a pursuit ensued,” Melbourne police said in a news release. “A deputy performed a pursuit intervention technique near mile marker 10, and the stolen car went off the road and crashed into a wooded area.”

Deputies approached the vehicle in which they found Smith dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Read: Melbourne police identify William Banks as ‘active shooter’ at apartment complex

The Georgia State Police is investigating the crash and Melbourne police continues to investigate the deadly shooting.

See a map of the scene below:

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