FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. – One man died of a reported a self-inflicted gunshot wound after fleeing police in Fairview Heights late Sunday morning.
The situation unfolded just after 11:40 a.m. at the O’Fallon Plaza parking lot in the 1900 block of West Highway 50.
Officers from the O’Fallon and Fairview Heights police departments attempted to make a traffic stop in the parking lot. The driver was wanted for a felony in St. Louis City.
Police claim the driver of the vehicle stopped, got out of the car with a handgun, and opened fire in the officers’ direction.
The driver then ran toward a gas station at the corner of Highway 50 and Old Collinsville Road, where he allegedly turned the gun on himself.
The man was airlifted to a regional hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Illinois State Police and local authorities closed West Highway 50 while investigating the shooting.