Gladstone police say family members worried shooting victim was suicidal

Gladstone police say a man fatally shot himself in the head late Saturday night in an apparent suicide after robbing a gas station.

In a news release, authorities said 911 operators in Ray County, Mo., received information Saturday that a man in a green Jeep was suicidal. The call came from family members of the driver.

The operators forwarded the information to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

A short time later, authorities said, the man’s cellphone “pinged” near Missouri Route 1. At roughly the same time, a clerk at a nearby gas station said he had been ordered at gunpoint to turn on a pump and deliver $60 worth of gas to a suspect in a Jeep.

Gladstone police started tailing the man soon after he left the gas station, about 10 minutes after receiving the cellphone information.

When the vehicle came to a stop, the officers said they observed the driver raise a handgun, point it at his head and discharge the weapon.

The officers on the scene found the driver unconcious. He was taken to a hospital.

His identity was not publicly known Sunday evening.

This story was originally published July 20, 2014 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Gladstone police say family members worried shooting victim was suicidal."