GARDENDALE – A Florida man wanted in a Wednesday morning triple homicide here and who had eluded law enforcement for most of the day killed himself Wednesday afternoon.

U.S. Marshals notified Gardendale police that they confirmed Kenneth Dion Lever, 52, died in Escambia County, Florida.

Escambia County Sheriff spokeswoman Deb Henley said Lever killed himself after deputies spotted him in a parking lot, according to the Associated Press. Henley said Lever got out of the car and took his own life. Gardendale police confirmed Lever shot himself as authorities closed in on him.

At approximately 8 a.m. Wednesday, Gardendale police responded to a call of shots fired in the 4100 block of Willow Bend Drive. Authorities arrived at the Peachtree Crossings mobile home park to find three victims dead from gunshot wounds, police said.

The victims were identified as Lever’s ex-wife, Dana Lever, 50, of Gardendale, and Bonnie Reeves Foshee, 65, and Don Austin Foshee, 69, both of Fultondale. Family members identified Bonnie Foshee as Dana Lever’s sister.

Police quickly identified Lever as the prime suspect in the shootings. After a manhunt lasted several hours in the Gardendale area, police said they believed Lever had left the area. Lever had been living in Santa Rose County, Florida, and police said he might return to Florida.

According to AP reports, Dana Lever had filed a protective order against him because she said he was harassing and stalking her and their juvenile daughter. The order, issued in December, was signed by a judge in Alabama.

Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker declined to comment on possible witnesses or whether there were children present in the home at the time of the shooting.

AP also reported that Lever was facing charges of sexual abuse of a minor in York County, Pennsylvania. Lever was arrested in 2015 on charges that he sexually molested a young girl for more than five years ending in August 2010, sometimes forcing a young boy to participate in the assaults. Lever has been free on bond awaiting a court date.

Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland said he had spoken to family members of the deceased, who he said were “distraught” by the shootings.

Law enforcement from Gardendale, Fultondale, Kimberly, Warrior and Birmingham police departments, along with members of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency were joined at the scene by agents from the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.