UPDATE: The Luzerne County Coroner identifies the man as Daniel Fritsky, 25, of Dallas
UPDATE: The Dallas Borough Police Department says the suspect is a 25-year-old man from Dallas. They will not be releasing his name until his family has been notified.
Police add that the gun used had been stolen from Dallas.
DALLAS -- A wild scene played out Sunday in a crowded shopping area after police said a foot chase ended with an armed robber taking his own life.
It all started around 12:30 p.m. when cops say an armed robber stuck up the Back Mountain Tobacco store in Dallas and took a drawer of cash.
A woman working at the barber shop next door chased him along the creek that runs behind the strip mall.
Police joined the chase behind Walgreens and that is when the coroner says the armed robber turned the gun on himself.
It took a crew of firefighters to retrieve the body of a man suspected of an armed robbery from a steep hillside in the Back Mountain after police said he turned his gun on himself during a foot chase.
"The person who robbed the store proceeded to take his own life rather than being taken into custody," said Luzerne County Coroner Bill Lisman.
It all started after detectives say the robber held up Back Mountain Tobacco on Memorial Highway in Dallas.
Tricia Frey was working in the Birch Beer Barbershop next door and noticed a man wearing something strange. She said, "He was wearing a ski mask, and it's not that cold out."
After the panicked clerk from the tobacco store told Frey she had just been held up, the hairdresser headed behind the building to try to stop the masked man.
When Tricia next spotted the robber, he was already on the other side of the creek. She followed him, talked to him and tried to get him to stop.
Frey says after chasing the robber behind Walgreens he finally spoke.
"We were saying 'drop it, just drop it,' and he said 'I can't.' He sounded like he was crying, but he just said 'I can't.' But after saying that, he unzipped the bag and pulled the cash drawer back and tossed it over the wall," Frey added.
Police arrived at the scene, and started following the robber up the steep wooded hill. Then, a shot rang out as the robber turned the gun on himself.
Frey said, "My first thought was that they fired a shot to tell him, stop running, you are surrounded, is what I assumed. I found out later that is not what happened."
The Dallas Borough Police Department said the suspect is a 25-year-old man from Dallas. They will not be releasing his name until next of kin has been notified.
Police added that the gun used had been stolen from Dallas.