West Suburban Bureau

WHEATON, Ill. (CBS) ― A man wrested a gun from a police officer responding to a report of a hit-and-run accident in a Chicago suburb Friday, then took hostages in a nearby bank for several hours before shooting himself in the head, police said.

The DuPage County coroner has identified the gunman as 41-year-old Wheaton resident Michael Long.

Local, county, and FBI SWAT teams broke the front door and stormed inside the Wheaton Bank & Trust building after a 3 1/2 hour standoff, but only because they'd heard a shot. It was the sound of the suspect taking his own life.

The standoff began at around 1:30 p.m., after a Wheaton police officer responded to the call, which police later said was likely made by the suspect as a ruse.

"It appears the call was a phony call. It was called in on purpose to draw an officer there," said Wheaton Police Department Deputy Chief Thomas Meloni.

When the officer arrived, the suspect grabbed him from behind, held a knife to his throat and demanded his gun, Meloni said.

During an ensuing struggle, the officer was cut on a forearm and the suspect was able to take his gun and run into the lobby of the Wheaton Bank & Trust, where he ordered everyone to the floor, Meloni said.

There were no other injuries reported.

"SWAT teams came in and took us out the back way," said Anna Radcliffe, who works at MRV Law Firm in the building.

"I'm glad everyone made it out alive," said Denice Smith, who also works at MRV Law Firm. "I bet this building's going to be one happy family"

As officers evacuated nearby businesses and homes and shut down streets and rail service, hostage negotiators began talking to the gunman by phone. They were able to persuade him to release 10 hostages, leaving two behind, Meloni said.

"He was cooperating by letting one, two, three (hostages) go at a time," Meloni said.

Under police guard, frightened workers slowly filed out of the building's upper floors occupied by law firms and other businesses.

Kevin Macadam, who said his wife was a hostage inside the bank, talked to investigators Friday. He said his wife was the only customer among the hostages and the third one released.

The suspect was calm when he entered the bank and employees convinced him to release Macadam's wife, Macadam said.

His wife declined to be interviewed by reporters Friday evening.

Meloni said that shortly before the standoff ended, the gunman "began to close the blinds from inside the bank and he disconnected the phone contact with the hostage negotiators." At about 4:15 p.m., officers heard a single gunshot and rushed in, Meloni said.

He said the man was dead of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Police would not release the name of the injured officer, but said he has been on the force for at least 10 years. A spokeswoman for Central DuPage Hospital, Amy Steinbruecker, said the hospital treated and released the officer for minor injuries.

Investigators with the DuPage County Sheriffs Department were to interview hostages and people evacuated from the building Friday evening, Meloni said.

Bank president Bob Hutchinson told reporters at the scene Friday that the bank would be closed until Tuesday.

"On behalf of our employees and customers, we regret this happened," Hutchinson said. "We feel for the family of the victim."

Television footage showed dozens of people running from the four-story bank building, which includes other businesses, with their hands above their heads.

"We locked our office door, turned off the lights, drew the blinds," said Donna Price, 52, of McHenry who works in the office building. "Then we heard a knock on the door and it was a SWAT guy. He told us to get out right now.

"I said, 'Let me get my purse.' He said, 'No, now."'

Price said police held people in a stairwell of the building before ordering them out.

"We all had to put our hands up on the back of our heads and run," Price said from a convenience store across the street where more than 100 people were crowded. She said police were evacuating everyone there by bus.

CBS 2's Kris Habermehl, Mike Puccinelli, Derrick Blakley and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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