SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) – A man being sought by police in connection with the shooting death of a kickboxing world champion with New Hampshire ties shot himself to death Monday afternoon, according to police.

The unidentified man killed himself in a South San Francisco motel room where he had been holed up for nearly 12 hours, said San Francisco Police spokesman Dewayne Tully.

Police have not determined if this man is the suspect in the Friday shooting of world champion Thai-style kickboxer Alex Gong, but the man’s identity should be released by the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.

“We do not know if this person was the actual killer,” said Tully. “But what we do know is that there was some evidence left in an abandoned car that indicates there may be a connection between this man and the killing.”

Gong, 32, had headlined kickboxing fights in Las Vegas and often appeared on ESPN. He was killed in the middle of a busy San Francisco street Friday afternoon after he chased down a driver who allegedly crashed into his parked car.

Witnesses said that after running two-and-a-half blocks to catch up with the suspected driver, Gong confronted the man, who then waited for a traffic signal to turn green before opening fire at point blank range and speeding away.

Police in Millbrae said they located the Jeep Cherokee that was seen leaving the scene abandoned at a gas station late Friday night. Millbrae is about 14 miles south of San Francisco.

They said the vehicle was reported stolen in July and was carrying a stolen real license plate.

Gong, who grew up in New Hampshire, also appeared in several episodes of the television show, “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Gong’s mother, Nita Tomaszewski, left Sunday for San Francisco to make arrangements for a memorial service and to bring her son’s body back to New Hampshire for burial.

Gong started practicing Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand, in 1994 and competed as a middleweight and welterweight. In 1996, he opened a San Francisco branch of the Bangkok-based Fairtex Combat Sports Camp, and the gym grew to include 20 instructors and more than 600 students.

“Alex was not just a kick boxer,” Tomaszewski said. “He worked with children. He mentored them and saw their potential. His camp was like a halfway home for runaways. There will be a big hole in the community,” she said.

Tomaszewski said he was in process of opening a new facility in New York City called Infinite Athletes. He planned to work with ex-football players.

Witnesses told police that Gong was working out in his martial arts studio when he was told that someone had struck his parked Jeep Cherokee. They said he was still wearing boxing gloves and trunks when he was killed.

Gong has lived on the West Coast for several years. In New Hampshire he attended Sanbornton Central School and then went to Sant Bani for a couple of years before attending Winnisquam Regional and Franklin high schools. He dropped out of high school but later completed his studies and earned his diploma.

He graduated from San Francisco State University where he earned a degree in business.

AP-ES-08-04-03 2323EDT

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