Police say a Marine killed after going on a shooting spree in Texas also is suspected of killing his wife in North Carolina.

Jacksonville, N.C., police say Rubi Estefania Smith, 21, was found dead Sunday afternoon in a motel room near Camp Lejeune. She's the wife of Esteban J. Smith, a 23-year-old Marine who died Sunday in a gunfight with Texas authorities.

Police spokeswoman Beth Purcell says Rubi Estefania Smith appears to have died from a knife wound.

Authorities gave no motive for Sunday’s rampage by Smith, 23, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

It began about 4:30 a.m. local time when Smith, who was driving a pickup truck, opened fire on a vehicle in Eden, Texas, wounding an unidentified woman, police said.

He then made his way to a convenience store in Brady, in McCulloch County, where he shot and injured two people as they sat in their vehicle, police said. They were treated and released.

The gunman then turned around and headed back to Eden, where he fired at another vehicle at about 5:30 a.m. That victim was also treated and released.

Just after 6 a.m., Concho County sheriff's deputies responding to a call of shots fired in Eola found Alicia Torres, 41, dead in her car.

About 15 minutes later, Sheriff Richard Doane caught up with the truck north of Eden on U.S. Highway 83. As state troopers arrived to assist, Smith fired and wounded Doane, officials said.

That sparked a shootout in which a state trooper and a game warden exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was killed, officials said. He was armed with an assault-style rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Several hours after the Texas bloodshed, the body of Smith's wife was found in a motel room in Jacksonville, N.C., about 20 miles from Camp Lejeune.

A spokesman for Camp Lejeune said a 23-year-old Marine was connected to both incidents, NBC station WITN reported. Base officials did not return calls from NBC News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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