Gunman shoots self after seven die in rampage

CHICAGO — A man suspected of fatally shooting seven people, including a child, committed suicide late Thursday after a car chase and hostage standoff with police in the US Great Lakes city of Grand Rapids.The two remaining hostages were released safely after the gunman, Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, shot himself dead as police were speaking to him, Grand Rapids Police Chief Kevin Belk told reporters.Belk said officers were in the house and talking to Dantzler -- who had been threatening to shoot the hostages and had asked officers to shoot him -- before he suddenly committed suicide."It does not make sense," Belk said shortly before midnight (0400 GMT Friday). "I don't think you can make sense out of something like this."Dantzler, 34, who was armed with a handgun, had earlier released another hostage, a 53-year-old woman, after demanding a sports drink and cigarettes, according to police.Dantzler had allegedly carried out a shooting rampage at two other homes in which he killed a 10-year-old child, five women and a man, according to police, who said he had a personal connection to the houses, without elaborating.Police then pursued him through the city on a high-speed chase to a house where he had no apparent personal connection. There he abandoned his SUV, fired three shots, which were answered by police, and then holed up inside.According to Belk, in addition to those killed, Dantzler also shot two other people, including a woman likely caught in crossfire and another person the suspect struck with his car.Neither of them suffered from life-threatening injuries.Family members said Dantzler had been released recently from prison, was very distraught, and may have been bipolar and off his medication, according to press reports.CBS television affiliate WWMT said the suspect had a criminal record. In 2010, he reportedly pleaded guilty to assault and battery and served a prison sentence for about a year.He also pleaded guilty 10 years earlier to assault with bodily harm less than murder and received a three to 10

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