Chris Ling, 58, a former violin instructor in England, apparently took his life in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
A former music teacher facing sex abuse allegations shot himself dead as officers arrived at his California home to arrest him.
Chris Ling, 58, was a former violin instructor who had been named in an investigation into abuse allegations at a prestigious music school in England in the 1980s. He had lived in the U.S. since the early 1990s.
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Police say he died of "an apparent suicide" as U.S. Marshals arrived at his apartment in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles to arrest him on Tuesday morning.
A spokeswoman for the US Marshals Office said: "A team of US Marshals went to arrest Mr Ling and before they could do so he shot himself."
BREAKING Teacher Chris Ling killed himself in Sherman Oaks today as US Marshal served warrant in UK child abuse case. pic.twitter.com/lCW1YPmXOq
— Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) September 1, 2015
She added that he likely would have been extradited back to the UK to face the charges.
After moving to the U.S., Ling ran a talent management agency that represented conductors and classical soloists. He lived in California on a work visa, according to City News Service.
Last year, police in Manchester, England said they were considering extraditing him after a file of complaints against Ling were sent to prosecutors. Ling had failed to return to the UK to answer their questions, police said.
Ten women had claimed that Ling had abused them while he was a freelance teacher at Chetham's School of Music, according to reports. The claims emerged following the trial of another teacher, Michael Brewer, in 2013.
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Brewer was ultimately jailed for six years after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting an ex-pupil when she was aged 14 and 15.
The victim, Frances Andrade, killed herself at her home in Surrey, England a week after giving evidence against him.
In 2014, a former conductor at the school, Nicholas Smith, admitted to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old in the 1970s, the BBC reported.
And last November, a double bass teacher, Duncan McTier, also pleaded guilty to sexual assaults against three ex-pupils.
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