Hostage escapes, gunman dies after shoot-out, 14-hour standoff at western Nebraska pharmacy

OMAHA, Neb. A gunman who held a pharmacy owner hostage at his store in rural western Nebraska is dead after a 14-hour standoff, the Nebraska State Patrol said early Wednesday.

The gunman, 27-year-old Andres Gonzales, died after a shoot-out with Nebraska State Patrol SWAT team members at the pharmacy in Alliance, patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said in a statement.

None of the SWAT officers were injured. Gonzales earlier shot two city police officers and a state patrol officer, but none of them suffered life-threatening injuries, Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Lance Rogers said.

The statement did not explain how Gonzales, of Alliance, died.

The standoff began Tuesday morning when Gonzales entered the Thiele Pharmacy & Gifts in downtown Alliance, a Nebraska Panhandle city of about 8,600 people. Authorities said police officers responded to reports of a robbery.

Gonzales took the pharmacy's owner, 62-year-old Charles Lierk, hostage for hours, Collins said. Lierk managed to escape but was shot as he ran and is in stable condition, Collins said. Police and the state patrol did not say who shot Lierk.

Ray Hielscher told the Lincoln Journal Star that he was watching the pharmacy from a Radio Shack across the street and saw the hostage run out about 5:30 p.m. Hielscher said he heard shots as the hostage ran out the front door and made it to nearby police.

Separately, police found a body at a nearby home Tuesday but declined to say whether it was related to the standoff. Police don't know how that person died, Rogers said.

The standoff prompted police to close off several blocks of downtown Alliance, whose residents were shaken by the drama.

"When we woke this morning in the best hometown in America, little did anyone in our wildest dreams foresee what would transpire today," said Mayor Fred Feldges.

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Hostage escapes, gunman dies after shoot-out, 14-hour standoff at western Nebraska pharmacy