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Facebook-murder accused dead after police chase

Police say Steve Stephens killed himself during a brief police chase.

Police say Steve Stephens killed himself during a brief police chase.

The man who posted a video of himself on Facebook cold-bloodedly killing an elderly man has shot and killed himself after a “brief pursuit” by Pennsylvania State Police officers.

Steve Stephens was the subject of a nationwide manhunt after allegedly shooting 74-year-old Robert Godwin on a Cleveland footpath on Sunday before fleeing in a car and uploading a video of the murder to Facebook.

Pennsylvania State Police said officers on Wednesday morning (AEST) that Stephens’ white Ford Fusion was spotted in a McDonalds parking lot near Erie, Pennsylvania and called authorities.

Stephens reportedly fled and state troopers initiated a pursuit. One trooper performed a “PIT” manoeuver to ram the vehicle to disable it.

“As the vehicle was spinning out of control from the PIT manoeuver, Stephens pulled a pistol and shot himself in the head,” Pennsylvania State Police said.

Stephens, who had no prior criminal record, was not suspected in any other killings despite making claims of previous murders on Facebook, Cleveland officials said.

Facebook on Tuesday said it would review how it monitors violent footage and other objectionable material on its platform in response to the killing.

Stephen’s video of the shooting video was visible on Facebook for nearly two hours before it was reported and taken down, the company said.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook’s annual conference for software developers that his company would do all it could to prevent postings of incidents like the Cleveland shooting.

Mr Zuckerberg expressed the sympathy of Facebook employees to the friends and family of the shooting victim.

Stephens is not believed to have known Mr Godwin, a retired foundry worker who media reports said spent Easter Sunday morning with his son and daughter-in-law before he was killed.

In interviews before Stephens’ death, Mr Godwin’s relatives said they forgave his killer.

“I forgive him because we are all sinners,” Robby Miller, Godwin’s son, said in an interview with CNN.

– With agencies

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