From Bill Lindelof:
A man suspected of raping and beating a woman shot himself in the head when El Dorado County sheriff's deputies approached his residence, authorities said this morning.
Kenneth John Lowry, 31, of Shingle Springs survived the gunshot wound and was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available.
Deputies said they received a call 6 a.m. Monday from a 43-year-old woman who reported she had been raped and beaten by a man she was dating. The woman said she escaped from the man's home in the 5000 block of Old Frenchtown Road in Shingle Springs.
Deputies transported her to Marshall Hospital in Placerville where her condition was described as moderate.
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Bryan Golmitz said deputies searched the area near Old Frenchtown Road but were not able to locate the suspect. However, deputies and investigators stayed in the area, and at 3 p.m. a resident on Old Frenchtown Road called the sheriff's office to report that Lowry was at his house.
Golmitz said in an e-mail that when deputies walking toward the residence Lowry shot himself in the head. Lowry was flown by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
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