A man involved in a high-speed chase Thursday with Saunders County sheriff’s deputies and the Nebraska State Patrol died after shooting himself in the head, the patrol said.
The man was being pursued in connection with a theft in Wahoo, the patrol said, and the chase ended in suburban Sarpy County.
Authorities say the man, who was not immediately identified, may have fired in the direction of a Saunders County deputy who tried to stop him.
No one other than the man was injured, and the patrol said preliminary information shows that no officers, deputies or troopers fired back in the man’s direction.
Asked about holes in the rear window of the pickup truck the man was driving, patrol spokesman Cody Thomas said authorities do not think that any law enforcement officers fired at the truck.
Two women who were in the Ford pickup with the man were being interviewed by Sarpy County sheriff’s deputies. They were not injured, the patrol said.
At the patrol’s request, the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the investigation.
Lt. Matt Sutter of the patrol said the pursuit ended near 180th and Harrison Streets shortly before 3 p.m., when the pickup slowed and troopers heard a gunshot. The man in the pickup died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the patrol said.
The patrol joined in the pursuit after the Saunders County deputy reported shots fired and the chase entered Sarpy County in an area of neighborhoods and strip malls. Law enforcement deployed stop sticks, Sutter said, but those were unsuccessful.
The pickup, which at one point eclipsed speeds of 100 mph, came to a stop on its own at 181st and Gertrude Streets, Sutter said.
Streets around the area remained closed for at least three to four hours while the investigation continued, Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office officials said.