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Ricky Coley, suspect in Mich. cop shooting, found dead in his bedroom after 20-hour standoff, police say

Families and neighbors evacuate a Detroit-area neighborhood while a gunman barricaded himself in a suburban home. CBS Detroit

(CBS/AP) WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - After a 20-hour standoff that killed one 12-year veteran police officer, police said suspected gunman Ricky Coley was found dead in the weapons-strewn bedroom of his Detroit-area home.

"It's been a very long night, a very long day," West Bloomfield Township Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste said Monday evening.

Police surrounded Coley's home since Sunday night when Officer Pat O'Rourke was shot to death while responding to a report of a possible suicide attempt or medical emergency at Coley's home.

Ureste said police used construction equipment to tear a hole in a second-floor wall of the home where they then sent in a robot. The robot found Coley's body on a bed, surrounded by knives and other weapons.

It was not immediately clear whether Coley had killed himself, said police Lt. Tim Diamond.

About 15 families had to be evacuated during the standoff, in which police and Coley exchanged hundreds of rounds of gunfire, Ureste said.

Authorities said 50-year-old Coley was a former auto executive facing legal and financial problems in his business and was recently divorced.

Police sent a team about 10 p.m. Sunday after getting a 911 call alerting them that Coley had tried to kill himself or needed medical attention, Diamond said. Officers called Coley's name as they climbed the stairs to the second floor and were met by gunshots.

O'Rourke, 39, was among four or five officers who responded to the call. He was killed when shots were fired through a bedroom door and wall, police said.

Diamond said Coley was alone in the house Monday afternoon and the Oakland County Sheriff's Department was "trying to persuade this guy into a peaceful resolution."

Coley worked at Ford Motor Co. and at General Motors, which employed him in its information technology section from 1996 to 2001, said GM spokesman Greg Martin.

Records show Coley headed a private equity company, CNC Holdings.

The U.S. Labor Department recently filed a lawsuit accusing Coley of mishandling money that was supposed to cover employee insurance at a Michigan trucking company called Translogic Auto Carriers, which has been controlled by CNC since 2008.

The lawsuit said Coley also transferred $342,000 from Translogic to himself or his affiliates. Creditors forced Translogic into bankruptcy court in 2010.

O'Rourke, a West Bloomfield officer for 12 years, was married and had four children. In a memo to fellow officers, Lt. Curt Lawson said a "scene can turn in unexpected ways," despite the best training and preparation.

A vigil for O'Rourke is planned for 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, the township supervisor said.

More on Crimesider
Sept. 10, 2012 - Ricky Coley, suspect in Mich. cop shooting and Detroit-area standoff, is in financial trouble, police say
Sept. 10, 2012 - Mich. man suspected in fatal shooting of veteran police officer, barricades himself in Detroit house, authorities say

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