COAL TOWNSHIP - At least one person is dead after a high-speed chase through Shamokin and surrounding communities that ended near Pizza Hut here Saturday night.
Police offered little information, but News-Item staff who saw the situation at the intersection of Route 61 and Luke Fidler Patch Road said a silver 2006 Cadillac DTS sedan was stopped in the southbound lane facing in the wrong direction.
Police officers surrounded the vehicle and ordered the driver to "turn off your vehicle" and throw the keys from the window.
A single muffled gunshot was heard from inside the car at approximately 8:30 p.m. by News-Item staff. Scanner reports said the driver shot himself.
Soon after, officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn and smashed the driver's window.
A vehicle with Northumberland County Coroner written on the side arrived at the scene around 9 p.m.
The driver was not identified by police Saturday night.
'Suspicious deaths'
The chase may be connected to two "suspicious deaths" reported in Carbon County Saturday afternoon.
Police said Kidder Township police were dispatched to 33 Wolf Hollow Drive at Split Rock Resort at about noon Saturday to check on the welfare of residents there. Police said John Carnochan, 77, and Mildred Carnochan, 75, were found dead in the home and their silver 2006 Cadillac DTS sedan was missing.
The vehicle stopped at Pizza Hut in Coal Township matched the description of the missing car.
Began in Elysburg
The deadly chase began near the intersection of Routes 54 and 487 in Elysburg, when a Ralpho Township officer saw a silver Cadillac matching the description of the missing vehicle owned by the Carnochans. The pursuit reached 120 miles per hour, according to scanner reports.
Police reported the driver was weaving in and out of traffic near Tharptown and nearly hit another car.
Police placed a spike strip on the road near Jack Williams Tire and Auto in Shamokin in an attempt to stop the chase, but the Cadillac kept going, even after the spikes punctured the front-passenger tire. Witnesses said sparks could be seen flying from the rim.
When the car finally stopped near Pizza Hut, the front passenger tire was off its rim and wrapped around the front driver's side tire.
Officers declared the scene secure shortly before 9 p.m.
Autopsies are scheduled for John and Mildred Carnochan Monday.
'Shocking'
Dozens of onlookers stood in the McDonalds parking lot watching the scene unfold, despite warnings from officers to seek cover.
"It's extremely shocking and very upsetting to see," said Jeanne Long, of Mount Carmel, after the scene was secured.
She said she was shaken up by the events.
"It's very traumatizing to see something like this. This is the stuff you see on television," she said.
Jamie and Wendy Kleman, of Coal Township, live on Tioga Street near the scene and came to the parking lot to see what was happening.
"You never see this around here. This is something you see on Law and Order or something," Wendy Kleman said.
(Reporters from Standard Speaker, Hazleton, contributed to this report.)