PHOENIX -- The man who shot his estranged wife in the head outside a west Phoenix church Wednesday morning killed himself Wednesday night, Phoenix police said.

Police Daniel Parasca, 37, shot himself in a drainage tunnel underneath 47th Avenue near Beardsley Road shortly before 9:30 p.m.

Parasca was suspected of shooting his estranged wife, 30-year-old Gabriela Parasca, as she pulled into the parking lot of the Cathedral Christian Center at 51st Avenue and Bell Road just before 9 am.

A witness told police Gabriela Parasca was "trading kids" with her husband when he shot her.

She was pronounced dead at John C. Lincoln Hospital.

Daniel Parasca fled the scene with the couple's two children, a 4-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy, officers said.

He later dropped off the girl at hospital, where she was being treated for a gunshot wound to her knee, Phoenix police Detective Stacie Derge said.

Parasca then drove the boy to a Surprise home, where police said he told the homeowner he planned to kill himself.

According to police, Parasca went next to a friend's house. The friend told police Parasca arrived around 1 p.m. and spent the afternoon drinking.

Around 7 p.m., police said, Parasca asked the friend to drive him home. When they spotted officers and media outside Parasca's home, Parasca asked the friend to drop him off somewhere else, according to police.

The friend took Parasca to 47th Avenue and Beardsley Road, where Parasca said there were officers and reporters outside his home because he had shot his wife, police said.

The friend left Parasca there and went home to call police. Police said the friend had not known about the shooting beforehand.

Officers arrived in the area of 47th Avenue and Beardsley Road around 8 p.m. and spent the next 1 1/2 hours searching for Parasca. Just before 9:30 p.m., police said, they heard a gunshot.

Police said they found Parasca's body and a handgun in a drainage tunnel underneath the road. Investigators have not yet determined whether it was the gun used to kill Parasca's wife.

Police found Parasca's car at his friend's house.

Police said the friend was a witness, was cooperating with investigators and would not face charges.

Parasca's son is with relatives, according to police. His daughter will also be placed with relatives when she is released from the hospital.

The Parascas were married in Oradea, Romania in 2002 and lived together in the Phoenix suburbs of Peoria and Glendale, according to a divorce filing in Maricopa County Superior Court.

In August, Gabriela Parasca toook out a restraining order against her husband. According to court documents, she said her husband was verbally and physically abusive. She said he kicked and spit on her, and hit her on the head in front of the children. She said he threatened to "kill me if I don't do what he wants."

She filed for divorce on Sept. 20.

In her divorce filing, Gabriela Parasca asked for sole custody of the children and child support. She also asked for her surname to be restored to Ardelean and for her children to take that name as well.