Michigan Bank Robbery Suspect Tracked in Forsyth Dead in Alpharetta

A bank robbery suspect who Michigan police tracked by his cell phone driving from Forsyth County to Alpharetta is dead after police say the man shot himself rather than surrender to police.

Alpharetta's 911 center got a call from St. Claire, MI, police saying they were tracking a suspect by his cell phone as he drove south from Forsyth County into Alpharetta, according to George Gordon, spokesman for the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety.

An Alpharetta police lieutenant spotted the suspect's vehicle, and asked for backup. Seven separate patrol cars could be seen speeding from Westside Parkway near the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety building onto Old Milton Parkway after that call. But rush hour traffic soon turned that into a slow speed chase eastbound on Old Milton Parkway.

The suspect refused to stop and pulled into a strip mall parking lot at the Old Milton-North Point Parkway intersection. That same heavy traffic was his undoing when he couldn't leave the parking lot.

The police officers surrounded his car and tried to get the suspect to surrender.

"As the suspect was surrounded by armed officers he produced a handgun and shot himself," Gordon said.

The suspect is dead and has been identified. Gordon said the investigation will continue.