A driver who led a sheriff’s deputy on a chase Wednesday night crashed into a tree and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said. A passenger fled.

The incident began around 8:30 p.m., when the deputy saw a car moving recklessly on East Williams Street near U.S. 1 and running several cars off the road, according to a news release.

The deputy tried to stop the car, but the driver kept going.

The deputy followed the car to Tryon Road, near Yates Mill Pond Road, when the driver ran off the road and crashed into a tree, the release stated. A passenger jumped out of the car and ran.

The driver suffered a self-inflected gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The release did not give the driver’s name or say whether the passenger was detained.

It did not say how fast the cars were traveling, or if any of the people in the cars run off the road were injured.

The News & Observer has asked the Sheriff’s Office for more information. The office got help Wednesday night from the Raleigh Police Department and the N.C. State Highway Patrol.

“The search of the immediate area has concluded,” an update released early Thursday morning stated. “Roving patrols will continue throughout the area. We are asking residents to continue to remain alert and secure their vehicles and homes.”

ABC11, The News & Observer’s news-gathering partner, spoke with a resident trying to get home to her husband Wednesday night.

“She said her husband heard rustling in the bushes behind their home when he saw officers with assault rifles and a large presence trying to track the man down,” the news station reported.

Anyone with any information that may assist in the investigation is asked to call the Wake County Sheriff’s Office at 919-856-6911.

We will update this story as we get more information.