By Martin Griffith
Associated Press
The car of a suspect is seen Saturday morning feb. 7, 2009 surrounded by police cars on U.S. 395 at the “Spaghetti Bowl” in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo) |
RENO, Nev. — A police standoff that ended in the apparent suicide of a motorist shut down a ramp at a busy freeway intersection for more than 12 hours Saturday, authorities said.
The eight-hour standoff at the so-called “Spaghetti Bowl,” where Interstate 80 and U.S. 395 merge, ended at 8 a.m. when a SWAT team lobbed tear gas into the man’s car after efforts to get him to surrender failed, police Lt. Robert McDonald said.
Authorities found the 32-year-old Reno-area man dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, McDonald said. His name was withheld pending notification of family.
The off-ramp for U.S. 395 from I-80’s westbound lanes was closed after the standoff began at midnight Friday and remained closed until Saturday afternoon to allow investigators to work at the scene, forcing motorists to detour on city streets, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen said.
The standoff began after the man fled a traffic stop in Sparks, a Reno suburb, and crashed on the ramp as troopers pursued him, Allen said. The man fired a shot in the air and put a pistol to his head as troopers approached, then spent the rest of the night in his car as negotiators talked to him, he said.
The man was initially pulled over after driving at speeds of up to 90 mph on I-80 and fled after being asked to step out of his car, Allen said.