A man who had been driving across the country pursuing his estranged wife finally caught up with her during a church service in New Jersey and shot her dead. The gunman seriously wounded two other people and caused panic in the church.

The incident happened in Clifton, N.J. The gunman opened fire in the vestibule of the church where about 200 people were attending services at the Asian-Indian house of worship, St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church.

Police officials identified the woman who was killed as Reshma James, 24. Her husband, Joseph M. Pallipurath, 27, fled the scene after the shooting. The two other victims weren’t identified. Police only said they were a 47-year-old woman and 23-year-old man. They were shot in the head and are now in critical condition in St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson. The two victims, according to church members, were Silvy Perincheril, 47, of Hawthorne, N.J. and Dennis John Malloosseril, 23, a church director.

The gunman fired four shots from his handgun after his wife refused to leave the church with him. One of the other two victims was a relative of the woman and the other one a person who tried to intervene during the shooting, police said citing eyewitnesses. The shootings occurred at 11:44 a.m.

After shooting the three people, the gunman fled the scene in his green convertible Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top and the California license 5JHD200, police officials said. He is still at large and the local authorities are continuing the manhunt.

Pallipurath’s estranged wife did not die at the church. She was taken to the hospital, but the doctors couldn’t do much to save her and she was pronounced dead at about 4 p.m., police said.