Coroner: Wheaton hostage-taker killed self

A preliminary autopsy confirmed reports that a man who took hostages inside a Wheaton bank Friday died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Meanwhile, DuPage County authorities are interviewing witnesses and people knew Michael Ray Long just a day after the 41-year-old Wheaton man sparked the standoff at the Wheaton Bank and Trust.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said Saturday he'd wait until early this week to release more information about Long and what might have led him to initiate the standoff with police.

"I haven't yet been briefed on everything," Birkett said. "We won't have anything available this weekend."

The DuPage County Coroner's news release lists Long's address in the 1400 block of Cantigny Way in Wheaton. The statement calls Long's death an apparent suicide.

Several neighbors contacted Saturday were hesitant to speak about Long. One woman, who declined to give her name, said he'd lived in the neighborhood for about four years with his wife and two young children.

She described him as loving father, and said he didn't seem capable of what took place Friday.

"There's absolutely nothing about his character which ever led me to believe he could do something like this," the neighbor said. "What I think people need to focus on is that he didn't hurt anybody. Obviously, he was in some deep emotional turmoil."

According to authorities and witnesses, Friday's hostage standoff began when Long held a knife to the throat of a police officer responding to what turned out to a fake call of a hit-and run in front of the bank. Long grabbed the officer's gun and then ran into the bank, where police said he held about a dozen hostages inside for about three hours before taking his own life.

Dozens of officers, many carrying large-caliber weapons, locked down the downtown area during the ordeal.