OLDTOWN, Idaho (AP) -- A man fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and three other people in a small-town tavern, then killed himself hours later as sheriff's deputies approached him in his car, authorities said.

The shooting Friday at the Stateline Bar apparently stemmed from a dispute between the suspect, Ralph Reeves, 53, and the ex-girlfriend, Tiki Danielle Wiese, 41, of Oldtown.

Bonner County Sheriff Phil Jarvis said deputies from Pend Oreille and Bonner counties had the car under surveillance for some time Friday night and ''as we approached, the man shot and killed himself."

Reeves was homeless and lived in his gray Ford Crown Victoria, the sheriff said.

Oldtown, a community of about 200, sits along the Idaho-Washington border, about 50 miles north of Spokane, Wash., and about 40 miles from Canada.

Also killed Friday afternoon were three Newport, Wash., men: Leroy Wiese, 84, Chester W. Cavaliere, 63, and Henry Shumake, 63. Leroy Wiese was Tiki Wiese's former father-in-law.

Other people in the tavern at the time were not hurt, the sheriff said.

One witness said he noticed nothing unusual until the shooting began.

''It all happened behind me ... I thought, 'What idiot is shooting blanks in here?"' said Earl Hunt in Saturday's edition of The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane. ''Except they weren't blanks."

Hunt said the gunman ''turned and pointed it at me and pulled the trigger, but there was nothing left in the gun."

Greg Cavanaugh, a friend who let Reeves park a trailer on his property and stay there periodically, said Reeves told him several times he was suicidal.

The tavern, just off U.S. Highway 2, has a pool table and dart board. It isn't known for rowdiness, said Alvin Lindley of Oldtown. ''This one is normally quiet," he said.