PENN TWP — The man who authorities say died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound early Wednesday morning following a police chase was wearing body armor.

He had a pistol in one hand and a semi-automatic rifle strapped around his neck. In his waist band, another handgun.

“He was preparing to do something,” said Middlesex Township police Sgt. Randy Ruediger, “but we don't know what. And we may never know.”

It was not immediately known if Zachary Carr, 28, of Allison Park, Allegheny County, left any note or other message to explain his actions. But he made a final statement to police: “Tell my girlfriend I love her.”

State police, who are investigating, did not rule out that Carr may have wanted to commit “suicide by cop” before deciding to turn the gun on himself.

Earlier Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, authorities said, Carr had gotten into some kind of altercation with his girlfriend in the Pittsburgh area.

He later drove his pickup truck to Butler County.

Middlesex Township police Officer Alyssa Mathews was working a Butler County DUI Task Force detail on Route 8 near the Mystic Lanes bowling alley about 1 a.m. when she saw the truck speed by, authorities said.

Carr revved his engine as he passed Mathews, said Trooper James Long.

She took off after him, eventually activating her emergency lights and siren. Carr, however, did not stop.

He eventually came upon Middlesex police Officer Bryan Costanzo, who had pulled his patrol car onto the east berm of Route 8, having made an unrelated traffic stop.

Long said investigators believe Carr intentionally swerved toward the police car or the officer standing near it.

“He had to jump up on the back of the [cruiser's] trunk to get out of the way,” Ruediger said of Costanzo. The officer was not injured.

Costanzo's dash camera video showed the truck sideswiping the cruiser.

“You see pieces, parts flying (from the impact),” Ruediger said. The driver's side door area of the police car took the brunt of the crash.

Three or four miles later, Carr pulled off Route 8 just south of Airport Road. Mathews pulled up in back of him.

He got out of the truck with a 9 mm pistol in his hand and another handgun in his waistband. The rifle was in front of him, hanging from his neck.

“He was wearing a steel-plated tactical vest,” Ruediger said. Police also would later find numerous magazines for the rifle in the vest.

Seconds after getting out and facing Mathews, police said, Carr uttered his final words before shooting himself in the head with the 9 mm pistol.

Butler County Chief Deputy Coroner John Hanovick pronounced him dead at 1:29 a.m. The preliminary cause of death was listed as a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Hanovick said an autopsy was planned Wednesday evening. Results were not known this morning. Toxicology tests, standard procedure in autopsies, will also be conducted as part of the investigation.

Long said that police suspect Carr had been drinking alcohol.