Bobby East Dies: Top NASCAR Driver Stabbed To Death In California By Transient, Was 37 – Update

UPDATE: Police are now saying the suspect in the stabbing death of racing’s Bobby East was killed two days after the stabbing incident.

West County SWAT team members went to an Anaheim apartment complex Friday, seeking suspect Trent William Millsap. Millsap allegedly “became confrontational,” and was ultimately killed in a shooting with police, the department said.

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EARLIER: A confrontation with a drifter at a Westminster, Calif. gas station Wednesday resulted in a stabbing that claimed the life of top NASCAR driver Bobby East.

Westminster is normally a very safe community bordered by the city of Seal Beach on the west, Garden Grove on the north and east, and by Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley on the south.

Police are seeking Trent William Millsap, 27. Millsap allegedly stabbed East in the chest while he was fueling his vehicle. East was taken to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead.

“Officers attempted life saving measures until OCFA paramedics arrived and transported the victim to a local trauma center, where the victim succumbed to his injury,” said a police statement.

Millsap was also accused of stabbing another man at the 76 gas station before the East attack.

UPDATE: Westminster police tracked Millsap down to an apartment in Anaheim, a SWAT team was sent to the location and, during the service of a search warrant, Millsap was shot. He later dies from his injuries at UC Irvine Medical Center, a rep for Westminster PD told KCBS-TV.

East, a native of Torrance, California, was a three-time US Auto Club (USAC) champion. He won the SAC Silver Crown championships in 2012 and 2013.

He is the son of USAC Hall of Fame car builder Bob East.

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