WHEATON, ILL. - A gunman who took a dozen hostages in a suburban Chicago bank after wresting a gun from a police officer Friday died after shooting himself in the head, police said.

The standoff began about 1:30 p.m., after a Wheaton police officer responded to a call of a hit-and-run accident near the bank. When the officer arrived, the suspect grabbed the officer from behind, held a knife to his throat and demanded his gun, Deputy Chief Thomas Meloni said. Police in Wheaton, about 20 miles west of Chicago, did not immediately release the gunman's identity but said he was about 50 years old. None of the 12 hostages he took was hurt.

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