Police: Officer on the run kills self after standoff

CLEVELAND – A Cleveland police officer who was on the run while facing charges of attacking his girlfriend has killed himself following a six-hour standoff with police.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott says Officer Tommie Griffin III shot himself in the chest with an AR-15 rifle Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. Elliott says the 52-year-old killed himself in a Cleveland home where investigators believe he had been hiding since Monday night.

Elliott says the man’s death came as the SWAT team entered the home. Negotiators had tried all day to contact Griffin with no success.

Authorities say Griffin broke his GPS ankle monitor last weekend and fled. He was scheduled for trial next week on rape, felonious assault and kidnapping charges following an alleged attack on his girlfriend at their Parma home in January.