Officer Kills Himself After Taking Another Officer Hostage               Off-duty officer takes colleague hostage, steals police cruiser

By Vince Lattanzio       |  Saturday, Oct 26, 2013  |  Updated 7:29 AM EDT

 

                            

     An off-duty police officer shot himself to death Friday night, ending a bizarre ordeal which included him taking another officer hostage.

David Midas, 33, worked part-time for the Lansford, Pa. police department. He'd been with them for 11 years. Late Friday, another officer described Midas as "acting erratically," according to the Morning Call. He said Midas came into the police station and left with ammunition and a car. He took another officer hostage and went on a wild car ride. 

Midas drove from Lansford, which is about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia into Jim Thorpe, which is about ten miles away in Carbon County.

     Police say Midas was driving along Broadway in the middle of downtown Jim Thorpe, when the two officers got into a struggle.

During that fight, Midas shot himself in the head, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Initially, police had said Midas was shot by his captor.

"There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death at this time," police said in a statement this morning.

State police are investigating to determine what provoked Midas, who was from Lansford and also worked as a deputy sheriff for Carbon County.