BAY AREA, CA — A man died Sunday morning after Sonoma County deputies pursued him through Bodega Bay following an alert from Solano County investigators tied to a child sexual abuse material investigation.
Cory Nott, 57, of Vallejo, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Sonoma County Sheriff Sgt. Juan Valencia.
Deputies began searching for Nott after a warning from the Solano County Sheriff's office that he might be armed and intending self-harm as he traveled into Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Sheriff deputies received a description of the motorcycle Nott was riding and began looking for him along the coast.
At about 10:31 a.m. Sunday, a deputy spotted Nott and the motorcycle in the 1000 block of Highway 1 in Bodega Bay and tried to contact him for a welfare check, Valencia said.
Valencia said in a statement that Nott immediately accelerated away from the deputy southbound on Highway 1. The deputy pursued him for about a mile before Nott turned into the parking lot at the Bird Walk Coastal Access at 355 Highway 1.
Nott abandoned the motorcycle, ran behind a tree, and then took out a firearm, Valencia said.
Witnesses and the deputy reported hearing a gunshot and seeing Nott collapse from what investigators described as a self-inflicted wound, according to Valencia.
The deputy called for medical aid, but paramedics pronounced Nott dead at the scene at 10:39 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigations Unit shut down the area while a coroner’s investigator transported Nott’s body to the county coroner’s office. Authorities said the coroner later notified Nott’s family and formally confirmed his identity.
The sheriff’s office said it extends condolences to Nott’s family and friends.
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