Texas crane standoff ends with deadly fall

A robbery suspect fleeing police climbed to the top of a construction crane on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Monday, May 28, 2012, threatening to shoot police. / KTVT

(CBS/AP) UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas - A man believed to have fled an earlier crime and holed himself up in a crane cab high over the campus of Southern Methodist University in Texas died in a fall from the cab after a 12 hour standoff with police early Tuesday morning, according to CBS News affiliate KTVT.

The man had claimed to be in possession of a gun, though police said after he fell from the cab and died that no firearm was found.

The man spent a sweltering afternoon on the crane that towers over the campus in University Park, a posh north Dallas enclave, after he told officers he was armed and threatened to shoot anyone who approached him.

KTVT reports the man was believed to be the suspect in an aggravated robbery early Monday morning in University Park. That person allegedly stole a truck before leading police on a chase that ended on SMU's campus.

Dallas Police would not confirm that the two cases were connected.

A KTVT journalist saw the suspect hurl a series of items from the crane's cab starting at about 9:30 p.m.

The situation got more dramatic around 2 a.m., after police tried to climb up the crane, when the suspect was seen climbing out of the cab. He appeared to be trying to change his position when he slipped and fell to the ground.

Watch a report of the incident, courtesy of CBS DFW, below: