EAST ALTON, Ill. – A suspect is dead after an hours-long standoff overnight in East Alton that involved an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and police.

The suspect was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound around 4 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from the East Alton Police Department.

The standoff began around 7 p.m. Thursday in the 200 block of Lakeside Avenue in East Alton. Part of the street is still taped off hours later as police continue their investigation.

East Alton Police Chief Scott Golike tells FOX 2 that there are multiple shell casings in that area in the wake of what happened.

He says everything started earlier yesterday evening when police responded to this area for a shots fired call. Initially, police didn’t find anything.

Officers returned later after receiving a call from a resident saying that their home had a bullet hole in it. They didn’t find anything so they left. Police thought the shot may have come from the trailer home where the male suspect was living.

As police approached the home with a woman who knew the man, a suspect opened fire on police, according to Folike.

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Officers shot back, and then the standoff started about 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Several law enforcement agencies responded to that scene. Golike says the suspect fired multiple shots at police after the initial gunfight.

Golike tells FOX 2 that a police unit has several bullet holes in it from shots fired by the suspect.

Authorities evacuated residents in the immediate area and tried to make contact with the man. But he did not respond.

Later on, Golike says authorities went into the trailer around 4:30 a.m. Friday and found the man dead, likely from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

We talked with Golike and a neighbor here about the initial gun fight.

“It was definitely a firefight. It’s one of those unpredictable like you think you’re coning out here for a relatively mundane task and pretty soon you’re taking fire. So it wasn’t expected but it happened,” explained Golike.

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Justin Selby, who lives right next door to the home where everything happened and was home when the shots were fired, told us, “I heard the gunshots, many gunshots, yelling out here. I looked out my front window and saw all of them rolling under their cars. You know it was like an actual gun fight out here in the street. And so then that’s when all the heavy presence- all the bigger cop cars. I called 911and they said get down, get downtown in your basement. So we had the kids with us so we went down to the basement. Then they came and knocked on the door about 12:30am and said you need to get out.”

Authorities have not released the suspect’s identity, but Golike says he had a lengthy and violent criminal history. No officers or residents were hurt.

Illinois State Police are investigating the officers’ use of gunfire.

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