An actor identified as the boyfriend of Adea Shabani, the 25-year-old actress missing this past month, shot and killed himself at the end of a long police chase Thursday, heightening concerns for Shabani’s well-being.
Shabani, of Los Angeles, was last seen by friends enrolled at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles just before noon on Feb. 23, the academy’s Administrative Director Wendy Overend told The Signal earlier this month.
Shabani’s boyfriend and fellow actor at the school, Christopher Allen Spotz, 33, of North Hollywood, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 22 shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Frontage Road in Corona.
The shooting came at the end of a police chase that began about 8:45 p.m. that night, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department advised they were in pursuit of a stolen Toyota Tacoma, traveling southbound on Interstate 15 in Hesperia, the CHP report states.
“Further information revealed the vehicle had possibly been used in a homicide which had occurred in Los Angeles County,” the CHP wrote, providing no details about the homicide.
Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department asked for the CHP’s help in the pursuit, afterwhich CHP units assumed control of the pursuit, southbound 15 at Limonite Ave.
“As the pursuit continued, two spike strips were successfully deployed but the driver was able to continue evading and transitioned to westbound SR-91,” the CHP report states.
The vehicle exited the freeway at Green River Road and came to a stop on Rio Vista Street., south of SR-91, where a felony stop was initiated.
The driver, identified at the time as a Caucasian male adult was armed with a handgun and was later pronounced deceased from a self inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials with the Riverside County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Christopher Spotz.
Spotz, according to the IMDB database of film industry people, appeared in films that include: The Shoaks (2018), Statues (2018) and In Solitude with Me (2015).
According to his bio posted on the database, Spotz was enrolled full time at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting, the same school attended by Shabani.
In December, at one of the school’s in-house productions Shabani and Spotz are named on the same “Beginner’s Scene Study” scheduled for Dec. 14, 2017.
The last time Shabani was seen was near her Hollywood residence on the 1700 block of Wilcox Street about 11 a.m. Feb. 23.
A Twitter post shared by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Thursday reported: “Missing person Adea Shabani. F/W 25 yrs old, 130 lbs, blond hair, blue eyes. Believed to have been in Santa Clarita Feb. 23.”
There were no other reported sightings of Shabani in the SCV.
The actress appeared in the 2017 film “All or Nothing.” She performed on stage for the Academy in two other “Scene Study” performances last year, in August and October.
“She’s still missing,” LAPD Officer Tony Im told The Signal Monday.
“The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
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