The man wanted in connection to a shooting and standoff in Oildale on Friday has been pronounced dead, according the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
Officials said Bakersfield Police officers responded to Walmart at 8400 Rosedale Highway to the report of a shoplifting that had just occurred.
Bakersfield Police officers located the shoplifting suspect who later pulled a handgun from his pocket.
The suspect sat in the front yard of a residence on Neah Bay Drive and shot himself.
The suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The Kern County Coroner’s Office has confirmed through fingerprints and photographs that the shoplifting suspect from Bakersfield Police Department’s incident on Neah Bay Drive is 30-year-old homicide suspect Christopher Gray.
Gray’s next of kin has been notified.
At 8 a.m. Friday morning, deputies were sent to the 500 block of El Tejon Avenue to the report of shots fired.
Deputies arrived and found two men lying in front of the house suffering from gunshot wounds.
One victim died at the scene and the other victim was taken to Kern Medical where he is in critical condition.
Through investigation, deputies learned the suspect in the shooting was 30-year-old Christopher Gray.
After Kern County Sheriff’s Office SWAT cleared the residence, it was discovered Gray had fled after the shooting and before deputies’ arrival.
As of 5 p.m., deputies did not know Gray’s whereabouts and released a wanted poster for his arrest on charges of homicide.
