Medical examiner: Death of gunman in Chicago standoff ruled suicide

November 25, 2006 -- The death of a gunman who killed a woman after holding her hostage on Thanksgiving Day was ruled a suicide Saturday by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Lance Johnson, 21, died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to results of an autopsy conducted Saturday morning.

On Friday, the medical examiner's office said that Tasha Cooks, the 22-year-old victim in the standoff, died of multiple gunshot wounds. Cooks' death was ruled a homicide.

Her family has said they are upset with the way police handled the 23-hour standoff on Chicago's South Side.

But police officials maintain that negotiators had tried for hours to coax Johnson to end the standoff. SWAT team members rushed the third-floor apartment immediately after hearing a gunshot at about 1 a.m. Friday.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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