Bob Kasarda

CHESTERTON — A 29-year-old Valparaiso man is dead after allegedly leading local police officers on a short chase early Monday, shooting himself and then crashing into a Speedway gas station along Indian Boundary Road east of Ind. 49, according to Chesterton police.

The identity of the deceased was not immediately released by officials.

Police say the case began around 8 p.m. Sunday when they responded to a welfare check involving the man and were told he was suicidal and armed with a handgun. Police were also told the man had allegedly posed a threat to a woman he knew.

Police sought the man, and an officer spotted the vehicle northbound on Ind. 49 around 1:30 a.m. Monday. The driver initially slowed down in the parking lot of the local Aldi grocery store, according to the

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